Jen Psaki Brings Attention to Negative Kamala Harris Report With Tweet in Support of Vice President

Press Secretary Jen Psaki wants her Twitter followers to know that Vice President Kamala Harris is “not only a vital partner” to President Joe Biden but a bold leader unto herself.

Psaki’s supportive message comes after a damning CNN report that the Vice President is being “sidelined” and “not being adequately prepared,” multiple individuals told CNN.

In a report published Sunday CNN outlined a picture of a Vice President struggling to make strides amid a dismal approval rating, based on interviews with nearly three dozen former and current Harris aides, administration officials, Democratic operatives, and outside advisers.

Psaki tweeted her support shortly after the CNN report came out, adding that VP Harris is a “bold leader who has taken on key, important challenges facing the country—from voting rights to addressing root causes of migration to expanding broadband.”

For anyone who needs to hear it. @VP is not only a vital partner to @POTUS but a bold leader who has taken on key, important challenges facing the country—from voting rights to addressing root causes of migration to expanding broadband.

— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) November 15, 2021

Reporting for CNN, Edward-Isaac Dovere and Jasmine Wright write:

Worn out by what they see as entrenched dysfunction and lack of focus, key West Wing aides have largely thrown up their hands at Vice President Kamala Harris and her staff — deciding there simply isn’t time to deal with them right now, especially at a moment when President Joe Biden faces quickly multiplying legislative and political concerns.

The exasperation runs both ways. Interviews with nearly three dozen former and current Harris aides, administration officials, Democratic operatives, donors and outside advisers — who spoke extensively to CNN — reveal a complex reality inside the White House. Many in the vice president’s circle fume that she’s not being adequately prepared or positioned, and instead is being sidelined. The vice president herself has told several confidants she feels constrained in what she’s able to do politically. And those around her remain wary of even hinting at future political ambitions, with Biden’s team highly attuned to signs of disloyalty, particularly from the vice president.

While Psaki’s message is clearly a supportive one, it will also draw attention to Harris’s current standing within the Biden administration, particularly as her flagging approval numbers are lower than Biden’s which paints her in a less flattering light than Biden himself.