This is a distraction the Biden admin does NOT need…..
And a failure to back up Harris probably would hurt Biden with women and minorities …
But?
Something HAS to be done….
Longtime associates, friends and White House aides defended Tina FlournoyThursday, after the chief of staff to Vice President Harris came under criticism for creating an insular environment in the vice president’s office that has caused departures, finger-pointing and a chaotic work environment.
Flournoy has a close working relationship with Harris and has helped her successfully navigate the early months of the vice presidency and manage a young staff that is mostly new to Harris, according to more than a dozen sources who talked to The Hill.
“She has become a trusted and loyal adviser to the vice president and the administration,” said Minyon Moore, a longtime adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton who worked on the Biden transition and is a friend to Flournoy…
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The finger-pointing comes as Harris has faced some turmoil including the departures of two members on her advance team. Last month, on her first foreign trip as vice president, Harris also received a string of negative headlines after she struggled to answer why she hadn’t visited Mexico in light of the waves of migrants at the U.S. border.
“The criticism directed at Tina seems misplaced,” said one longtime Biden aide who speaks to those in Harris’s orbit. “I don’t think people realize how tough it is to manage a demanding principal who doesn’t want to make mistakes and a young staff with very little executive branch experience. It’s still so early and she really needed someone with Tina’s experience to come in and guide the ship.”
“Let’s be real for a second: Kamala needed someone who is a task-master,” another strategist close to Harris said. “One of the knocks on Harris and her universe is that they’ve always been undisciplined, so it’s not surprising that they brought in someone who is a task-master, someone who could create a standard and isn’t afraid to tell the boss what’s up.” …..
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But some say Flournoy hasn’t been effective at managing the staff.
“I think overall it’s worked OK because Kamala is the sort of person who would fix things if it’s not working to her liking,” said one source in her world. “But clearly something isn’t working well.” …