President Joe Biden’s advance team, those tasked with organizing Biden’s public speeches, is reportedly infested with “turmoil and toxicity” that could hinder the president’s campaign.
The report, published by Politico on Monday, is the latest sign of infighting within the Biden world that surfaced in press reports.
The “turmoil and toxicity” within Biden’s advance team is based on 18 current and former Biden staffers and those directly familiar with the team, Politico reported:
The culture within the office has gotten so bad that the White House Counsel’s Office opened an investigation, according to three people who were contacted last fall by the office for interviews. Specifically, they said, investigators looked into complaints of verbal harassment by Ian Mellul, the former associate director of presidential advance. Mellul resigned March 1 after a months-long investigation, according to multiple people familiar with the situation. Brie Moore, the former director of press advance, also resigned within the past few weeks following complaints from the press corps to the White House about her behavior, several people familiar with the office said.
Those who spoke with POLITICO worried about the implications that turmoil within the team could have on President Joe Biden’s reelection efforts. The advance office leans on a nationwide network of volunteers — often advance staffers from previous administrations or past campaign cycles — to help with the president’s trips.
But the Biden office has earned such a bad reputation that some seasoned vets have declined to pitch in when asked, according to four former White House staffers. Those familiar with the Biden operation said that meant more room for error, especially as the president travels more frequently ahead of the general election.
After Politico reached out to the White House for comment about allegations, the establishment media organization received messages positively praising members of the advance team, the report noted.
Toxicity has not only infected Biden’s advance team. Infighting and “tension” rage between White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and the National Security Council’s John Kirby about how much time each is allotted to provide the establishment media with canned public relations remarks during press briefings, Axios reported in January.
The two team members are forced to work together because President Joe Biden “likes it,” the report said.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
