Thread by @albertemartinez

"strange and disappointing" "messy" "uneven" "fiasco" "fallen short."

That's not Trump describing Kamala Harris.

That's how Joe Biden and the Biden White House described her, according to a 2022 book co-written by the head of news at Politico.
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Everyone has seen the now infamous clip of Kamala embarrassingly failing to defend her decision to not visit the border during the worst immigration crisis in American history.

Not as well known, and what the book captures, is that the Biden White House was embarrassed by Kamala’s performance as well. Kamala’s performance was seen as “strange and disappointing” and White House aides wondered if the Vice President was “just a very uneven performer?”

Kamala defends herself today against accusations that she was the “Border Czar” by saying she was in charge of “root causes.” But her most visible effort on addressing “root causes” – a trip to Central America – was viewed as a failure by the Biden White House.

The “root causes” trip was such a failure that senior Biden White House aides conceded privately that Harris had "fallen short" and the problem was not Harris's staff but the Vice President herself.

Contrary to media reporting when the “Border Czar” flap re-emerged, Kamala's entire handling of her immigration portfolio was a failure. So much so, Biden’s own White House Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, told Kamala to her face that she “erred” by not working harder on immigration.

Even Joe Biden got frustrated with the dysfunction of Kamala Harris and the Vice President's operation, despite knowing full well when he chose her that she was not as qualified or competent as other potential picks.

This is how prominent news reporters were reporting on Kamala's record as Vice President, right up until she became the Democratic nominee for President.