Kamala Harris hit by mass staff exodus ​

Reports of a toxic work environment have plagued US Vice President Kamala Harris ever since she arrived at the White House.

Now, the recently announced exodus of her chief spokesperson has prompted more questions over the goings-on behind closed doors at the West Wing.

Four senior staff members have announced they are leaving their positions at the end of the year in what is being described as a “mass exodus”.

The White House said this week that senior Adviser Symone Sanders will be departing the vice president‘s office by year’s end.

Earlier this year, Sanders defended the working environment inside the Harris camp but admitted it was a tough job keeping the affairs of the nation’s second most powerful person in order.

Following reports of low morale in Harris’ office, Sanders defended the reportedly toxic workplace and called individuals who anonymously spoke to the press “cowards” for sparking rumours.

“We are not making rainbows and bunnies all day,” she told one outlet. “What I hear is that people have hard jobs and I’m like ‘welcome to the club.’ ”

Staffers who worked for Harris before she was vice president criticised Harris for consistently refusing to read into briefing materials prepared by staff members and then chastise her staff when she appeared unprepared.

“It’s clear that you’re not working with somebody who is willing to do the prep and the work,” an anonymous former staffer said.

“With Kamala you have to put up with a constant amount of soul-destroying criticism and also her own lack of confidence. So you’re constantly sort of propping up a bully and it’s not really clear why.”

In a recent interview with The Washington Post, Sanders reassured her departure was not due to any unhappiness or dysfunction, but rather because she is ready for a break after three years in the hot seat.

“I’m getting married next year. I would like to plan my wedding. You know, I have earned a break,” she said.

“So me deciding that I’m leaving has absolutely nothing to do with my unhappiness. I feel honoured every single day to work for the vice president who gave me an opportunity to be her spokesperson at the highest levels.”
 

But critics believe something must be amiss in the West Wing following the recent domino-like departure of senior figures. Fox News contributor Joe Concha on Saturday called Harris‘ office a “sinking ship” during commentary on Sanders’ departure.

Sanders‘ decision to leave the vice president’s office not only raised eyebrows because she is the second high-level staffer to announce her bid farewell in less than a month, but because the spokesperson was previously harsh on vice president dropouts.

“I guess when your boss‘ approval ratings are at 28 per cent and she’s polling even lower on her number one job, the U.S. southern border where migrants continue to flow over, two million passing over this year. I guess I would leave too, because this is a sinking ship,” Concha said.

White House officials maintain that the departures of several staffers does not signal that Harris is a bad boss.

Press secretary Jen Psaki said the White House has a history of seeing departures by high-level staffers and described the work as “gruelling” when she was pressed by reporters on the work environment in the vice president‘s office.

“Working on a presidential campaign…and working in the first year of a White House is exciting and rewarding, but it is also gruelling and exhausting,” Psaki told reporters this week. ”It’s all of those things at once.”
 

The recent drop in approval ratings for the current White House is becoming a major talking point in the US, however some believe the criticism for the historic Biden-Harris duo is unfair.

Gil Duran, a former Democratic strategist and aide to Harris who quit after five months working under Harris, said her declining popularity was largely down to bigotry from voters.

Duran believes that the Harris’ stances on sexism and racism were “the only explanation for why some voters think she’s worse than Cheney, who lied us into disastrous wars, approved torture and accidentally shot a man in the face”.

“But bigotry is baked into our politics and a successful politician must beat it, not just blame it,” he said.

-- with Fox News