Warning: The story contains strong language.
Kate Bedingfield, communications director for Joe Biden's campaign, defended Jen O’Malley Dillon, his pick for White House deputy chief of staff, after she let loose during an interview and called Republicans a bunch of "f**kers."
O’Malley Dillon said she is willing to work with Republicans and make compromises, but that does not mean she has to like them.
"In the primary, people would mock him, like, 'You think you can work with Republicans?' I’m not saying they’re not a bunch of f**kers. Mitch McConnell is terrible," she said. "But this sense that you couldn’t wish for that, you couldn’t wish for this bipartisan ideal? He rejected that. From start to finish, he set out with this idea that unity was possible, that together we are stronger, that we, as a country, need healing, and our politics needs that too."
The message O’Malley Dillon sent undercuts the message Biden campaigned on: calling for unity and away from the "Trump-era" name-calling.
Biden's message was further undercut when Bedingfield then tweeted on Wednesday, "So @jomalleydillon would be the first to tell you her mom doesn’t approve of the spicy language, but I would be the first to tell you that the point she was making in this conversation with @GlennonDoyle is spot on: unity and healing are possible — and we can get things done."
So @jomalleydillon would be the first to tell you her mom doesn’t approve of the spicy language, but I would be the first to tell you that the point she was making in this conversation with @GlennonDoyle is spot on: unity and healing are possible — and we can get things done. pic.twitter.com/HOVVDbY42K
— Kate Bedingfield (@KBeds) December 16, 2020
This, of course, is trying to have your cake and eat it too. If they really want people to believe Biden will make good on his campaign promise of unity, then the people who work for him should at least pretend they are also on board. But then again, it's not like any Republicans believed Biden in the first place because they knew it was fake from the start. Biden's top-level employees are just confirming what they already know.