Tensions Rise Between Harris and Biden Teams as Election Nears

The relationship between Kamala Harris‘ team and Joe Biden‘s White House has been increasingly fraught in the final weeks before Election Day, 10 people familiar with the situation tell Axios.

Why it matters: Biden’s team wants Harris to win the election, but many senior Biden aides remain wounded by the president being pushed out of his re-election bid and are still adjusting to being in a supporting role on the campaign trail.

• “They’re too much in their feelings,” one close Harris ally said of the president’s team — a sentiment shared even by some White House aides.

Driving the news: Some on the Harris team say that top White House aides aren’t sufficiently coordinating Biden’s messaging and schedule to align with what’s best for the vice president’s campaign.

• Biden gave an impromptu press conference in the White House briefing room Friday just as Harris was about to do an event in Michigan, ensuring that her event would get less TV coverage than it otherwise would have.
• Earlier in the week, Harris criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for not taking her call about the recent hurricanes, only for Biden to praise DeSantis soon after for being “gracious” and “cooperative.” (A person familiar with the situation told Axios that Biden hadn’t been briefed on Harris’ comments.)
• Biden has been eager to boast about a robust jobs report, helping to end the strike by the longshoremen’s union and other perceived victories recently. Harris has been trying to focus on voters’ pocketbook concerns, including inflation.
• One person involved with Harris’ campaign told Axios: “The White House is lacking someone in the room thinking first and foremost about how things would affect the campaign.”

Zoom in: The tensions have played out on the staff level, too.

• Harris’ team has been trying to add staff to the vice president’s official office to handle the bigger workload. It’s been frustrated at the White House’s pace in getting people detailed for that, according to two people familiar with the matter.
• The White House has been working to help Harris’ team but has been frustrated by some of the rules about who can be detailed and when.

Several Biden aides have joined Harris’ campaign, but some feel like they’ve been labeled as disloyal by Biden’s team for leaving or even considering it.

• A White House official told Axios: “Everyone from the president on down knows how important the election is, and we always anticipated a number of staff would want to transition from the administration to the campaign for the final stretch.”

On Harris’ campaign, there’s also awkwardness between some who were on Biden’s original campaign staff and the Harris allies who’ve been installed in recent weeks.

• In the weeks after Harris became the Democratic nominee, there were squabbles about whether Biden’s main surrogates on television would continue in those roles or if new faces would emerge, two people familiar with the matter told Axios.
• Harris’ team prevailed and new surrogates began appearing frequently.

Some on Harris’ team are wary of the Biden campaign crew they’re now working with.

• After all, Biden’s team publicly argued that Harris was less electable than Biden in the weeks after the president’s disastrous debate in June.

• “At the end of the day, we’d switch to candidates who would, according to polls, be less likely to win than Joe Biden — the only person ever to defeat Donald Trump,” deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty wrote in a letter to supporters after the debate, citing polling data.

What they’re saying: White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Axios: “President Biden endorsed Vice President Harris immediately after leaving the race, rejecting other approaches that would divide the party, and has attested to her leadership abilities and continually made clear his support for her.”

• He added: “While ensuring that all critical White House functions are fully staffed, we have made significant changes to guarantee the vice president’s team has all of the support and resources that they need.”
• A White House spokesperson added that Harris’ leadership team has been invited to strategic scheduling meetings.
• Harris’ official office and her campaign declined to comment.

Reality check: Tensions between the Biden and Harris teams were likely inevitable.

• Beyond Democratic leaders’ historic push for Biden to step aside so late in the campaign, every sitting vice president running for the White House has had staff infighting with the current Oval Office occupant.
• This often-uncomfortable dynamic — a vice president running to replace the president they’ve served — also was evident with Al Gore and Bill Clinton in 2000, and George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan in 1988.

Despite the sore feelings among some Biden aides, much of the president’s staff is actively rooting for and trying to work toward a Harris victory.

• There is frustration about coordination among senior staffers on both sides, but much of the mid-level staff is working well together, people familiar with the dynamic told Axios.
• The White House denied there’s tension among senior staffers.

Source: Axios