Aides to then-Vice President Kamala Harris were so paranoid about her navigating social events that they held a “mock soiree” ahead of an intimate DC dinner party in the spring of 2022, according to a new book detailing the dysfunction of the Biden administration.
In “Original Sin,” co-authors Alex Thompson and Jake Tapper note that Harris advisers made it a literal dry run — deciding not to serve wine to see if the veep could “practice with a glass or two.”
There are no reports of awkward moments at the “salon-style dinner” Harris attended at the home of media mogul David Bradley, whose portfolio includes ownership of National Journal and a partnership in the Atlantic magazine.
However, Thompson and Tapper do detail frustrations with the VP among Biden loyalists, describing the Californian as a “regular headache” for the White House.
“She often shied away from politically tough assignments when Biden had accepted such assignments as vice president,” the authors write. “She even turned down seemingly simple asks, such as headlining DC’s Gridiron Club dinner.“
Six months prior to the “mock soiree,” Harris and her team drew mockery for releasing a strange video about space exploration that featured child actors who auditioned for their roles.
Harris had been picked in May 2021 to head up the National Space Council, a Cabinet-level position that Thompson and Tapper describe as “politically safe ground” that she still found “difficult” to navigate — though she reportedly wasn’t helped by aides who “internally mixed up astrology and astronomy.”
“Many on the Biden team felt that Harris didn’t put in the work and was also just not a very nice person,” the book reads. “Several quietly expressed buyer’s remorse: They should have picked [Michigan Gov. Gretchen] Whitmer” as Biden’s running mate in 2020.
Biden had vowed to select a woman as his No. 2, and Harris and Whitmer were the two finalists, according to the book.
Biden confidants, such as future White House chief of staff Ron Klain, had strongly backed Harris behind the scenes.
Jill Biden, however, had been vexed by Harris for raking her husband over the coals during a Democratic primary debate in June 2019 over the issue of busing.
After Harris joined the ticket, friction ensued between staffers in both camps — continuing once they were in office.
“Harris aides began dividing Biden advisers between the helpful and what one called ‘the cabal of the unhelpful,’” according to Thompson and Tapper. “Anthony Bernal, the First Lady’s office, and [White House Deputy Chief of Staff] Jen O’Malley Dillon, along with many in the political and communications shops, were often in the latter group.”
Ironically, O’Malley Dillon would go on to chair Harris’ campaign after Biden dropped out of the 2024 race in late July.
“Original Sin” is slated to hit bookshelves on May 20.
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