Vice President Kamala Harris faced quite the loss as a result of Tuesday's election, with Democrats also losing the Senate and likely the House. Naturally, the blame game has started, and with Harris being installed as the nominee just three and a half months before Election Day — after President Joe Biden was forced out by his fellow Democrats — that's no doubt come into the conversation. The Biden and Harris teams have taken to blaming each other, as a Friday morning report from Axios revealed.
As the report begins by mentioning:
Why it matters: Biden premised his presidency on preventing Trump from returning to the Oval Office: He failed. So, someone needs to bear the blame.
- In response to Trump's decisive victory, aides in both camps are blaming the other for being more responsible, according to interviews with more than a dozen people in the White House and Harris' campaign.
But, what's even more telling is that the Harris team refuses to accept the blame. It is always somebody else who is at fault with these people, which could play a role in why Harris lost.
As the report went on to mention:
What they're saying: One Democrat familiar with the White House's dynamics pointed a finger at Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti, Biden's top political aides: "Mike and Steve will have a lot to answer for — having him run" for re-election at 80 years old.
- One person involved with Harris' team told Axios: "The 107-day Harris campaign was nearly flawless. The Biden campaign that preceded it was the opposite."
- Another person involved in the vice president's campaign said: "We did what we could. I think the odds against us were insurmountable," referring to Biden's low approval ratings and his late exit after the disastrous June debate that raised questions about his mental fitness.
- In an implicit criticism of Biden's team, top Harris aide David Plouffe posted on X that the campaign had "dug out of a deep hole." He later deleted his account.
This was not a campaign that was "nearly flawless." Not only did Trump win the Electoral College with 312 votes, but he even won the popular vote, a feat that a Republican has achieved since 2004.
What's only barely mentioned here is how Biden had his problems, from his mental faculties concerning Americans, to his unpopular administration, but he was still forced out in a coup. As referenced above, and as Katie covered more in depth, David Plouffe, a Harris aide and former President Obama's campaign manager. He and other top Obama officials were involved in forcing Biden out of the race. He even went on to delete his X account.
Not only is the Harris team and the Democratic Party wracked by playing the blame game, they also aren't very democratic for a party that screeches about threats to democracy. Harris became the nominee not by a primary, as she won zero primary votes for both the 2020 and 2024 election, but rather was installed.
The blame game from the Biden team towards the Harris team touches upon a very telling issue, the amount of money she raised while still being in debt. Harris even outraised Trump and yet still finds herself in such a problem:
A former Biden staffer dismissed the Harris team's criticisms as making excuses for the vice president's failures: "How did you spend $1 billion and not win? What the f***?"
- Another person involved in Harris' campaign felt deceived by the happy-talk from leadership about how it was a margin-of-error race when Trump won decisively. "People are depressed and frustrated about the overconfident leadership of the campaign," they said.
In another unbelievable area of infighting, there are those who lament Harris not using Biden more for campaigning, although when he did so he ended up making the issue worse for the Democratic nominee. Then again, not even Harris herself could properly distance herself from Biden, and it's not something she should get to do as the sitting vice president of the Biden-Harris administration:
Another person familiar with the dynamics said that some on Biden's team resent Harris for not using the president more during the campaign, even though he is unpopular and prone to gaffes.
- "The Harris team benched [Biden] and then they lost, so now the people who represent Biden are saying, 'Maybe you shouldn't have benched him,' " they said.
Let's not forget that Biden's comments on the campaign trail--such as calling Trump supporters "garbage," which the White House tried to cover up with misleading transcript edits--were so bad that there was speculation he was looking to sabotage Harris' campaign.
It's not until this point of the report that Harris' positions on the issues are even brought up. Then again, Harris never really did seem to have a grasp on the issues. She was often plagued by communist positions, such as price controls, or unconstitutional plans, such as prioritizing black men as a way to pander for their votes. Many of her positions even borrowed from Trump or Vice-President Elect JD Vance.
Further, Axios mentions "the Biden administration's policy failures on the economy, inflation, and the border," an administration that Harris is part of and bears the blame for, especially when it comes to being designated as the border czar. Meanwhile, the Harris campaign wasn't even so much focused on these as they were about abortion.
Also note how especially telling it is that the campaign wouldn't even comment:
Others reflected on what they saw as the Biden administration's policy failures on the economy, inflation and the border.
- One former Biden-Harris official said it was more a governing problem than a communications problem: "It's very clear we got it wrong on economic policy. People feel squeezed and when they do, they pick change. Our policy position and execution wasn't palpable to voters."
- Another former Biden administration official cited a range of frustrations: "The party was lied to about our candidate, and the leadership who lied were the same ones who never bothered to actually listen to voters and understand what was appealing to them about Trump — or why the Biden economy wasn't working for them even if it looked good on paper."
- Harris' campaign decline to comment.
Perhaps most telling when it comes to the failures of the Harris team and the blame going around is that the higher ups are still scrambling, and leaving their people in confusion, disbelief, and/or disappointment.
Not only do these people claim their campaign was "nearly flawless," but there's also a sense of denial of how bad it really was for them:
Zoom in: The Harris campaign's leadership is trying to contain the frustration and anger some staffers are feeling.
- In an all-staff call Thursday night, campaign leaders pleaded with staffers to not talk to reporters, according to four people on the call who spoke with Axios.
Near the end of the call, campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon teared up, according to a recording obtained by Axios.
- "I don't like emotion, I don't do that," she said before choking up. "You are great people who have done a great thing, and you came really close."
- During the call, Harris told staffers: "Yeah, this sucks....We all just speak truth, why don't we, right? There's also so much good that has come of this" campaign.
- The message didn't resonate with some Harris staffers: "It was detached from the reality of what happened," one said. "We are told the fate of democracy is at stake, and then the message was, 'We'll get them next time.' "
It was not "really close" and these people do not "just speak truth." If they keep telling themselves this, they just might keep losing.
Such a report comes after Axios also put out a report on Wednesday, as Matt covered, about how Democrats have been blaming each other.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member