Abandon Ship! Kamala Harris’ Chief of Staff Ditches White House

For some reason, Vice President Kamala Harris has had an incredibly difficult time keeping her staff, well, on staff. Several key members of her team, some going all the way back to her Senate campaign days, have already jumped ship and left the vice president’s office for greener pastures.

Back in December, it was reported that several staffers in Harris’ office were quitting because they didn’t want to ruin their careers, basically, by being associated with a failing administration and a VP who can’t be bothered to read prepared notes before opening her mouth.

Some of the reports about the way Harris interacted and treated her staff were startling. From complaints of bullying to reports that the Vice President would falter in interviews, then berate staff who provided her notes she never bothered to study.

Now, another departure, this time even higher up. Tina Flournoy, Chief of Staff to the Vice President, will be heading for the exit following a long line of other Harris staffers who don’t wish to have their future career prospects tarnished by further associating with the Biden-Harris administration:

Flournoy is slated to be replaced by Lorraine Voles, the veteran Democratic communications strategist who joined Harris’ office as an adviser last summer. Voles would focus her efforts on “organizational development, strategic communications and long-term planning,” an official told CNN at the time.

In an email to staff obtained by CNN, Flournoy said she was “eternally grateful to the vice president for giving me this amazing opportunity,” and thanked the staff.

Flournoy is the latest in a long string of departures from the vice president’s office, which has been shaken up multiple times in recent months. Flournoy’s deputy Michael Fuchs earlier this month announced that he would be leaving the administration. The White House confirmed recently that national security adviser Nancy McEldowney would step down, to be replaced by her deputy Phil Gordon. And Harris’ communication’s team received a nearly full makeover in recent months, after her communications directory Ashley Etienne, chief spokesperson and senior adviser Symone Sanders and deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh all left the office within months of one another other.

Flournoy, who joined the team at the start of the operation, led the office through a rocky summer for the vice president, during which sHarrishe drew criticism after several messaging missteps and staffing issues.

The office of the Vice President has been a trainwreck since Biden’s inauguration. That chaos seems to stem directly from Kamala Harris who treats staff poorly, from reports, and walks herself into bad sound bites and embarrassing interviews because she can’t be bothered to inform herself on the topic before sitting down with a reporter.

Harris had an awful summer of 2021 with one misstep after another. When she wasn’t out embarrassing herself, she hid out of sight or made videos with hired child actors to hang on her every word.

If Kamala Harris has proven anything since January of 2021, it’s that she doesn’t have the skills to run the country, let alone run her own office.


Nate Ashworth

The Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Election Central. He's been blogging elections and politics for over a decade. He started covering the 2008 Presidential Election which turned into a full-time political blog in 2012 and 2016 that continues today.

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