I told you the other day about the Politico story of VEEP Kamala’s dysfunctional office. Well, yesterday, Axios reported that the White House came out forcefully to condemn this whisper campaign against Kamala, and to reiterate the president’s support for his not-ready-for-the-big-league’s vice president.
Chief of Staff Ron Klain reasserted the President’s “trust and confidence” in Harris while Biden senior advisor Cedric Richmond told Axios, “It’s a whisper campaign designed to sabotage her.”
Yes, it probably is, Cedric.
But you want my theory?
Sure, they’re going on record expressing both support for Harris and disgust for this so-called whisper campaign. But I guarantee you the whisper campaign never would’ve happened without the tacit approval of the very people expressing disgust for the whisper campaign.
Look, we all remember the Obama years. Well, okay, Joe Biden probably doesn’t remember the Obama years, but the rest of us do.
Leaks did not happen in the Obama White House. Not the way they happened during the Trump years.
If the Obama people leaked anything to the press it was a tactical leak done with the full knowledge and support of the White House.
How do I know?
Well, we can all thank the insufferable Ben Rhodes for spilling the beans on that.
Back in 2016, the New York Times Magazine did a glowing feature and interview with Ben Rhodes back when he was the narrative-crafter for Obama’s ridiculous Iran nuclear deal.
Rhodes bragged about his list of friendly reporters whom he could count on to publish stories in line with the narrative the White House wanted out there. It was his “echo chamber,” remember?
From the NYT piece:
The way in which most Americans have heard the story of the Iran deal presented — that the Obama administration began seriously engaging with Iranian officials in 2013 in order to take advantage of a new political reality in Iran, which came about because of elections that brought moderates to power in that country — was largely manufactured for the purpose for selling the deal. Even where the particulars of that story are true, the implications that readers and viewers are encouraged to take away from those particulars are often misleading or false. [bold emphasis mine]
They weren’t acting as reporters, but stenographers – dutifully parroting White House talking points with no regard for whether or not they were true.
It was in this New York Times interview that Ben Rhodes made his famous remarks that “the average reporter we talk to is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns … They literally know nothing.”
Never forget. Obama people are now Biden people. They created a media echo chamber and they know how to play reporters to get the preferred narrative out there.
If these people leak to reporters, trust me, they know whom to leak to and exactly how the White House wants the leak to be used.
Do you believe for a second that those Politico reporters managed to find twenty-two sources to defy the White House and leak about Kamala? Hell, these Obama/Biden people wouldn’t tolerate one leak, let alone twenty-two.
No, this so-called whisper campaign against Kamala would not happen unless someone in charge gave the green light for those twenty-two people to start whispering.
So why come out and condemn the whisper campaign?
Hey, you gotta act aghast, otherwise people might catch on that you orchestrated the whole damn thing.
Even this Axios piece that has Ron Klain and Cedric Richmond well-I-nevering over the whisper campaign continues the whisper campaign.
It includes this:
Yet many Democrats, including some current senior administration officials, are concerned she could not defeat whomever the Republican Party puts up — even if it were Donald Trump.
Now, I might be wrong. I’m not stating this as fact. But I remember the Obama years. I know how completely in control they were regarding the press. Nobody leaked anything that would harm Obama or his presidency.
Suddenly now twenty-two freaking people leak to Politico about Kamala Harris and what a hot mess she is?
Leaks are strategic with these people.
Their defenses of Harris and condemnation of these anonymous leakers are performative. I can feel it in my bones.
I mean, check out this Ron Klain quote from the Axios piece. It is so patently untrue, one can only conclude that Klain is laying on the honey to make Kamala and the media think that the White House had no role in this whisper campaign:
“She’s delivering for the American people on immigration, small business, voting rights, and economic growth,” Klain said. “The results speak for themselves: a decline of border arrivals from the Northern Triangle, improved vaccine equity, and increased economic opportunities for women.”
Hahahahaha! None of that is true. Dial it down, Potsie. You’re over-selling this.
The only thing I can’t figure out is why the White House would greenlight this whisper campaign.
Did Kamala start getting delusions of grandeur and the Biden people felt they needed to deflate her a bit?
Or is Jill throwing her weight around and trying to damage Kamala in order to protect her cognitively-impaired husband?
Or is it simply a case of buyer’s remorse?
I can’t tell you which it is. Hell, it might be a little bit of all three.
Whatever the case, I’m convinced that this whisper campaign now being condemned by the White House has the White House’s fingerprints all over it.