Vice President Kamala Harris recently chimed in on her full plate of White House responsibilities, saying that she needs to work on telling President Joe Biden “no” more often. So far, VP Harris has been tasked with the surge of migrants at the southern border, expanding voting rights, closing the digital divide, and other key issues. When asked during an interview about her multiple job assignments, VP Harris hinted that it might be more than she can manage.
BET broadcaster Soledad O’Brien interviewed VP Harris during their special headline “State of the Union: Vice President Kamala Harris” to discuss all she’s handled so far. They touched base on COVID-19 vaccine rates, voting rights, and police reform, as well as the jobs Harris has been tasked with as vice president. “Immigration, rising broadband access, black maternal mortality, racial inequality, women in the workforce infrastructure. We just talked about the right to vote. It seems like a lot for one person,” O’Brien told Harris.
VP Harris replied that she’s also in charge of the Space Council, which led O’Brien to ask if one person can do all that realistically.
“Yeah, maybe I don’t say ‘no’ enough. But I believe these things can be achieved. It’s very hard work, but that’s why we’re here and that’s what people wanted. Right? We will go to the extent that we will get to these positions, and we will work and work hard. And that’s what really inspires me,” VP Harris replied.
VP Harris goes on to say that she is accustomed to taking on multiple tasks and that she is motivated by the Biden Administration’s goals. But it’s easy to multitask when you ignore the real problem and pretend it is a mythical “root causes” “and “systemic” issue.
Between how Harris handled the southern border and the claims that her office is plagued by fighting, many have questioned if she’s equipped for the job. Even Biden officials have said they are displeased with the tense atmosphere and bad communication in Harris’s office. She received the most criticism for being tasked with tackling the immigration crisis and waiting 93 days to visit.
When VP Harris finally visited the border, it was a “pit stop” to El Paso for a photo-op on the way to her California home. The trip was so last-minute that staff members felt blindsided and went into a frenzy trying to arrange it.
Some of the sources said that Harris is responsible for her office’s low morale and that the toxic environment “starts at the top.” They said that the VP and her Chief of Staff Tina Flournoy refuse to take responsibility and often blame staffers for any negative results.
But many White House officials have called this a whisper campaign, with Harris’ chief spokesperson Symone Sanders calling the staffers “cowards” for doing it this way. She said that people were complaining about having hard jobs and adds “welcome to the club” before defending their office culture as one that lets people raise issues.
It’s clear that VP Harris was trying to clean up the mess as she hosted a post-Fourth of July barbecue at their Naval Observatory home. The event included dozens of staff members indoors with Harris and first gentleman Doug Emhoff.
VP Harris may have said there’s a lot of hard work to do, but wasn’t very specific on who would actually do the hard work or what work needs to actually get done. Don’t forget, she’s a career politician.
