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      Symone Sanders, Kamala Harris’s chief spokesperson, to leave office – report

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      Symone Sanders, Kamala Harris’s chief spokesperson, to leave office – reportDeparture is second high-profile exit in two weeks after resignation of vice-president’s communications director Symone Sanders, chief spokesperson and a senior adviser to Kamala Harris, is to leave the White House at the end of the year, Politico has reported, renewing speculation of chaos and dysfunction within the vice-president’s office.The departure of Sanders is the second high-profile exit from Harris’s staff within two weeks, following the resignation of communications director Ashley Etienne.It also comes amid reported friction with Joe Biden’s team over the role of his vice-president, and stories that Harris feels “sidelined” in the job as the president prepares to launch his campaign for a second term.Sanders, in a farewell note to staff reported by Politico, gave no reason for her exit, and did not say where she intends to go next.Some political observers, however, noted that the news of her leaving came the same day as Stacey Abrams, another highly visible Democrat on the national stage, launched her campaign for Georgia governor.Sanders, 31, joined Harris’s office after spending the 2020 presidential campaign as a senior adviser to Biden. The former political commentator has been one of the best-known faces in the administration, and a vocal defender of Harris in recent weeks and months as the vice-president faced criticism, particularly after a rocky trip to Guatemala in the summer.Harris, plagued by the same sinking approval ratings that have plagued Biden, has struggled with messaging, and drawn flak from prominent figures on both wings of the Democratic party, including the moderate West Virginia senator Joe Manchin and the progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.This contributed to mounting frustration among Harris’s team, and from the vice-president herself, who has reportedly told aides that she feels badly positioned to take over from Biden, even as the 79-year-old president mulls whether to run again in 2024.Conversely, according to CNN, Biden’s staff is watching closely for any signs of disloyalty within the Harris camp, despite outward messages of support.Such stories of tension between the two prompted the White House press secretary Jen Psaki to issue a rare defense of the vice-president last month, calling Harris, the first woman and person of color to reach the office, “a bold leader”, and suggesting at least some criticism of her was rooted in sexism.In a statement to the Washington Post, a spokesperson for Harris paid tribute to Sanders.“Symone has served honorably for three years. The president and vice-president are grateful for Symone’s service and advocacy for this administration. She is a valued member of the White House and a team player – she will be missed,” it said.Sanders previously served as press secretary to the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders during his 2016 campaign for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination that year, which was ultimately won by Hillary Clinton.She became a regular political commentator and analyst on CNN and elsewhere before joining Biden’s team as an adviser and strategist for his 2020 defeat of Donald Trump. After becoming Harris’s chief spokesperson, she traveled often with the vice-president and was quick to highlight her work despite evidence of escalating dysfunction among her staff.TopicsKamala HarrisBiden administrationUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Is Kamala Harris being shunned by the US president? Politics Weekly Extra – podcast

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      After reports came out suggesting the vice-president was being underused, the White House came to her defence at the weekend. Jonathan Freedland and Lauren Gambino discuss the various rumours shrouding Biden and Harris’ relationship

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      White House defends Kamala Harris after reports suggest she is struggling in role – video

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      The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, disputed recent media reports that the US vice president, Kamala Harris, is struggling with her role in Joe Biden’s administration. ‘She’s a key partner,’ Psaki said. ‘She’s a bold leader, and she is somebody who has taken on incredibly important assignments,’ including immigration and voting rights. With questions being raised about the president’s willingness to seek a second term, speculation is mounting over Harris’s chances in a contest for the next Democratic nomination. 
      ‘I don’t have any predictions of whether she will run, when she will run,’ Psaki added. ‘I will leave that to her, but I can tell you that there’s been a lot of reports out there and they don’t reflect his view or our experience with the vice president’

      ‘A bold leader’: White House defends Kamala Harris after reports say she’s struggling More

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      ‘A bold leader’: White House defends Kamala Harris after reports say she’s struggling

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      ‘A bold leader’: White House defends Kamala Harris after reports say she’s strugglingJen Psaki fires back after several media outlets portray a vice-president struggling to make her mark John Nance Garner, vice-president to Franklin D Roosevelt from 1933 to 1941, famously said the office “wasn’t worth a bucket of warm piss”. Kamala Harris may now agree.Biden’s approval ratings continue to plunge amid crisis over inflationRead moreThe White House was moved to defend her on Sunday night, after leading US media outlets portrayed a VP struggling to make her mark.“For anyone who needs to hear it,” said the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, Harris “is not only a vital partner to [Joe Biden] 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.”Psaki was firing back on multiple fronts.On Friday, as Harris wrapped up a visit to France, the New York Times said: “Ten months into her vice-presidency, Ms Harris’s track record on delivering on the administration’s global priorities has been mixed.”Célia Belin, of the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution, told the paper: “I think she’s been really hidden this whole time and out of the sight of most Europeans. I think she’s been quite under the radar.”Then, late on Sunday, CNN published a lengthy report headlined: “Exasperation and dysfunction: Inside Kamala Harris’ frustrating start as vice-president.”The report contained supportive voices, including the White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, who said Harris was “off to the fastest and strongest start of any vice-president I have seen”.CNN said Klain emphasised Harris’s work on Covid vaccine equity and foreign policy, and said: “Anyone who has the honor of working closely with the vice-president knows how her talents and determination have made a big difference.”But CNN also said Klain was “known as a Harris defender in the West Wing”. Like much in the piece, it was unattributed. CNN said it spoke to “nearly three dozen former and current Harris aides, administration officials, Democratic operatives, donors and outside advisers”.Its report began with a stark statement: “Worn out by what they see as entrenched dysfunction and lack of focus, key West Wing aides have largely thrown up their hands at [Harris] and her staff – deciding there simply isn’t time to deal with them right now, especially at a moment when Biden faces quickly multiplying legislative and political concerns.”Success on one of the biggest such concerns, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, will see the White House host a signing ceremony on Monday, a chance for the president to bask in public victory at a time when his poll ratings – and Harris’s – are sliding.Reports on Harris’s fortunes generally include discussion of her own political future.As the first Black and Asian woman to be vice-president, she is assured of her place in history. But Biden is nearly 79 and may not run for re-election. Speculation continues to mount over Harris’s chances in a contest for the next Democratic nomination, perhaps in opposition to Pete Buttigieg, who ran much more strongly in 2020 and who as transportation secretary has made a confident start to Washington life.Like Harris, Buttigieg has been attacked by the right – if not so bizarrely as in claims last week that Harris spoke with a French accent while in Paris. Buttigieg recently took paternity leave after he and his husband adopted twins. Criticised by Fox News hosts and others, he was defended by the White House.An unnamed “former Harris aide” told CNN it was “hard to miss the specific energy that the White House brings to defend a white man, knowing that Kamala Harris has spent almost a year taking a lot of the hits that the West Wing didn’t want to take themselves”.There is also a typically outlandish Washington rumour that Biden might remove Harris as VP by appointing her to the supreme court.Trump ally Michael Flynn condemned over call for ‘one religion’ in USRead moreSpeaking to the Times, the former Connecticut senator Chris Dodd, a close Biden friend, said: “I’m hoping the president runs for re-election, but for whatever reason that might not be the case, it’s hard to believe there would be a short list without Kamala’s name on it. She’s the vice-president of the United States.”CNN reported perceived missteps by Harris, struggles to form a relationship with Biden beyond “an exhausted stalemate” and problems with staff. But one of the most widely discussed quotes was attributed to “a top donor to Biden and other Democrats”.“Kamala Harris is a leader but is not being put in positions to lead,” the donor said. “That doesn’t make sense. We need to be thinking long term, and we need to be doing what’s best for the party.“You should be putting her in positions to succeed, as opposed to putting weights on her. If you did give her the ability to step up and help her lead, it would strengthen you and strengthen the party.”TopicsKamala HarrisJoe BidenBiden administrationUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      Biden hails US ‘heroes’ killed in Afghan blasts and vows to make terrorists ‘pay’ – live

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      Key events

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      5.26pm EDT
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      Biden addresses nation on Kabul explosions

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      Today so far

      3.48pm EDT
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      Biden to address the nation this evening on deadly attacks in Kabul

      3.15pm EDT
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      Pentagon confirms 12 US troops killed and 15 injured in Kabul attacks

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      ‘We will not be dissuaded from the task at hand,’ defense secretary says after Kabul attacks

      2.46pm EDT
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      Biden’s meeting with Israeli prime minister moved to tomorrow

      1.56pm EDT
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      House Republican leader calls on Congress to return to session for Kabul briefing

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      5.52pm EDT
      17:52

      Biden said that although millions of Afghans would like to leave and come to the US, he can’t get them all out.
      “I know of no conflict — as a student of history — no conflict where, when a war is ended, one side was able to guarantee that everyone they wanted to be extracted in that country would get out,” he said.
      Asked how much responsibility he was willing to take for the way the withdrawal has unfolded, Biden said – he’ll bear some.
      “I bear responsibility for fundamentally all that’s happened of late,” he said. “But here’s the deal… you know as well as I do that the former president made a deal with the Taliban.”

      5.47pm EDT
      17:47 More