Some Democrats are reportedly struggling to understand what went wrong
Staffers working for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are placing blame on each other for the Democrats’ loss in the US presidential election, according to Axios.
Republican candidate Donald Trump emerged victorious on Tuesday, securing every swing state and winning the popular vote as well. The GOP has regained control of the Senate and is likely to maintain its majority in the House of Representatives.
“We dug out of a deep hole but not enough,” David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager and a top adviser to Harris, posted on X on Thursday, describing the outcome as “a devastating loss.” He subsequently deleted his account following backlash from the Biden camp.
“The 107-day Harris campaign was nearly flawless. The Biden campaign that preceded it was the opposite,” a member of the Harris team told Axios, a Washington-based insider politics outlet.
“We did what we could. I think the odds against us were insurmountable,” said another person involved in the Harris campaign.
Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates attributed the loss to “the same trend that incumbent parties have all over the world” and asserted that anyone criticizing the Harris campaign was “at odds” with his boss.
During a conference call on Thursday night, campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon urged staff to refrain from speaking to reporters, according to four individuals who participated in the call, as reported by Axios. She also expressed emotion, according to a recording provided to the outlet, telling the staff they had “done a great thing” and “came really close.”
One staffer told Axios that such sentiments were “detached from the reality of what happened,” considering the emphasis placed on the notion that democracy itself was at stake.
According to a Democrat, some of Biden’s aides harbored resentment towards Harris for not utilizing the president more prominently during the campaign. Conversely, Harris aides blamed Biden’s shortcomings in areas like the economy, inflation, and immigration. A former administration official suggested that the issue was less about communication and more about governance.
“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,” the former official stated.
Another former official alleged that the party was “lied to” about Biden by the same leadership that failed to listen to voters or understand why the Biden economy wasn’t benefiting them despite appearing strong on paper.
A former Biden staffer dismissed the criticism from the Harris team as an attempt to justify her defeat. “How did you spend $1 billion and not win? What the f***?” the person questioned Axios.
The Harris campaign raised record amounts of money in the three months leading up to the election, significantly more than Trump, but reportedly concluded the race in debt, according to Politico.
Harris assumed control of Biden’s campaign funds when the president withdrew from the race in July, reportedly due to pressure from fellow Democrats, three weeks after his disastrous debate performance and just a week after Trump survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.
One person involved in the Harris campaign described its structure as “a Rubik’s cube,” signifying a complex blend of the original Biden campaign staff, individuals Harris trusted, and veterans of former President Barack Obama’s campaigns and administrations.