As Julio and Katie have covered, Vice President Kamala Harris' trip to the southern border has certainly had its fair share of pitfalls. The administration must not only deal with that, but the news that two of the vice president's travel officials are quitting, as Annie Karni and Katie Rogers reported for The New York Times.
The news came out on June 24, the day before Harris' highly anticipated trip. Not only was she criticized for how long it took--almost 100 days after Biden put her in charge of stemming the surge of migrants--but because she went to El Paso, many miles from hotspots like Del Rio. She briefly left the airport to visit a Border Patrol station.
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) June 26, 2021
Calling Kamala’s visit to El Paso a visit to the Southern Border is the equivalent of going to Olive Garden and saying you’ve been to Italy.
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) June 25, 2021
It's not merely this trip where the timing matters, though. Karni and Rogers did not mince words there. They began their piece by noting the officials, Karly Satkowiak, the director of advance, and Gabrielle DeFranceschi, are "leaving the vice president with her critical support staff in flux as she seeks to ramp up travel ahead of big vaccine and voting rights pushes she is planning through July."
The vice president was photographed wearing a mask while meeting with Border Patrol agents, despite having been fully vaccinated, months ago. If she wants to encourage those who are hesitant to get vaccinated that it's worthwhile, the vice president may want to rethink wearing a mask.
Naturally, the White House is spinning the news. "A spokeswoman for Ms. Harris said the departures were long planned and that both women are currently engaged with finding their replacements," Karni and Rogers wrote. "Many of those officials came in with an understanding that they would stay only on a short-term basis," the report also read in closing.
During Harris' trip to Mexico earlier this month, someone dropped the ball and allowed an imposter to what one would think is a highly secure event, considering it's the vice president. The position doesn't sound all that worthwhile for the stress of that security breach alone. That imposter was able to ask Harris a question, as well as gush about how she voted for her.
Satkowiak and DeFranchesi were the ones who "put together the teams that survey venues for Ms. Harris to visit, and negotiate with local officials to get the venues camera-ready."
Those who have served in this capacity are being asked to "consider doing so again."
Sorry, for those who don't know, an "advance" job is the people who help plan travel/trips and are usually on the ground before the principal/client/boss. They have to work incredibly long hours and deal with irate divas.
— Raheem J. Kassam (@RaheemKassam) June 25, 2021
Kamala is clearly impossible.
The position isn't even a paid one. Travel expenses for the officials are paid for or reimbursed by the government.
There's already a call out for "advance associates" to join the trip. "The vice president’s office, according to a person familiar with its hiring, is currently short on travel support staff, and the call for advance associates came as the administration has also been planning Ms. Harris’s high-stakes trip to the southern border," according to Karni and Rogers.
The administration sounds desperate.