Kamala Harris's White House bid thrown into chaos after 'bullying' claims

Democrat insiders fear Kamala Harris will have few senior aides to rely on as she seeks to be named the Democratic nominee for the 2024 US Presidential Election, which is just over 100 days away.

President Joe Biden backed Harris after he withdrew from the race on Sunday, as he insisted it was in the "best interests" of the country that he step down.

Harris’s leadership approach has been under fire for many years, with some aides who worked under her in California having described her failing to read briefing materials, then blaming staff when it became apparent she was not across her portfolio.

“It’s clear that you’re not working with somebody who is willing to do the prep and the work,” one former staffer told the Washington Post in 2021, describing Ms Harris’s “constant amount of soul-destroying criticism and also her own lack of confidence”.

They added it amounted to “propping up a bully”.

Symone Sanders, Harris’s former spokeswoman, said atr the time: “We are not making rainbows and bunnies all day. What I hear is that people have hard jobs and I’m like, ‘Welcome to the club’”.

Sanders departed a few months later, a decision she insisted was unrelated to office morale, but due to wanting a break and a new challenge after three years of advising Harris and Biden.

Analysis by news website Axios found that the high turnover in the last three-and-a-half years meant that only five of the 47 people listed as being employed in 2021 were still with her by spring 2024. It must be noted that the figure does not represent Harris’s full cohort of staff - which she is not required to disclose - but does make up a substantial number of the total.

This appears to be in stark contrast to the extremely loyal and experienced brains who worked with Biden for many decades, making them skilled at anticipating his thinking and reflecting his tone in their campaign messaging. In comparison, in Biden’s own first term as vice president to Barack Obama, 17 of his 38 aides remained with him, according to the Axios analysis.

Ashley Etienne, Harris’s former communications director, has disputed the suggestion she has been under-prepared while vice president.

“Harris has been in the Oval Office, [Situation] Room, deeply immersed in domestic, foreign issues the last four years,” she said recently.

Insiders also said multiple departures were prompted by finding working under Harris “particularly difficult”, despite aides being accustomed to demanding hours and difficult bosses.

Her defenders concede that she is a demanding boss, but argue the criticism against her is tainted with sexism, even comparing her style to Trump’s on The Apprentice, to stress the double standards.

It comes as former aides described Harris as an “unpredictable” and “chaotic” manager.

Lenore Anderson, who worked under Harris when she was San Francisco’s district attorney, previously said she had “very high standards”.

However, Anderson, speaking ahead of Harris’ inauguration as vice-president, said her “meticulous attention to detail” was counterbalanced by her “ability to laugh [and] to have a good sense of humour”.