Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on the 2020 campaign trail, Photo: Kevin Dietsch/UPI/
Axios reports that significant tensions have arisen among Democrats after the election defeat. The teams of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris began to blame each other for the failure, in particular due to ineffective campaigning and organisational problems.
Main accusations and mutual claims
Sources close to Biden’s team believe that the main blame lies with his chief political advisers, Mike Donilon and Steve Rickett. They, according to critics, forced Biden to run for a second term despite his age and health.
In contrast, the Harris camp believes that her short campaign was effective, and that the election failure was caused by Biden’s shortcomings in the campaign. David Plouffe, a senior adviser to Harris, wrote on social media that her campaign had “dug itself out of a deep hole”, but later deleted his account.
Criticism of strategic decisions and economic policy
There is also criticism of the Biden administration’s economic policies. According to former officials, the ineffective management of economic issues, inflation and migration has led to the disillusionment of voters who wanted change.
Organisational difficulties of the Harris campaign
Axios notes that due to the limited time, the Harris campaign faced organisational difficulties, confusion in decision-making and a lack of hierarchy. Her team included former Biden campaign officials, Barack Obama advisers, and close Harris allies, which made the job more difficult.
