Another Key Aide to Kamala Harris Announces Departure

Vice President Kamala Harris has lost another senior staff member, according to a Tuesday report.

CNBC reports:

Vincent Evans, who was Harris’ deputy director of public engagement and intergovernmental affairs, has taken a job at the Congressional Black Caucus, he said in a statement provided to CNBC. The CBC is led by Black lawmakers who advocate for issues important to minority communities across the country. The group is chaired by Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio. […] Evans was a political director for Harris during the transition, and held the same post while Harris was a nominee for vice president during the later stages of the 2020 election, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“I am deeply honored to be named the executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus,” Evans told CNBC. “I started my career in Washington working for a member of the CBC, so I know first hand the tremendous leadership and impact this Caucus has in Congress and across the country.”

Happiest of birthday Mr. @SecondGentleman. Onward. pic.twitter.com/xYV1ev8JVc

— Vincent Evans (@VinceEvans46) October 14, 2021

Evans’ announcement comes after Ashley Etienne left Harris’ office as its former communications director. Symone Sanders, former senior advisor and chief spokesperson for the vice president, also departed at the end of last year.

News of Etienne’s departure followed CNN’s damaging report in which it was alleged that cracks had begun to former in the relationship between Harris and President Joe Biden.

“Worn out by what they see as entrenched dysfunction and lack of focus, key West Wing aides have largely thrown up their hands at Vice President Kamala Harris and her staff — deciding there simply isn’t time to deal with them right now,” CNN reported at the time.

“Many in the vice president’s circle fume that she’s not being adequately prepared or positioned, and instead is being sidelined,” the establishment media outlet added. “The vice president herself has told several confidants she feels constrained in what she’s able to do politically.”

As CNN’s report made the internet rounds, top Biden officials scrambled to swat down the claims with a full-throated defense of the vice president.

“For anyone who needs to hear it, the Vice President is not only a vital partner to the president but a bold leader who has taken on key, important challenges facing the country — from voting rights to addressing root causes of migration to expanding broadband,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki wrote on Twitter.

Harris even personally weighed in on reports regarding her performance, saying she does not feel “misused or underused” by the president and is proud of the administration’s accomplishments, despite struggling to combat multiple crises such as the coronavirus pandemic and surging inflation.

“I am very, very excited about the work that we have accomplished, but I am also absolutely, absolutely clear-eyed that there is a lot more to do, and we are going to get it done,” the vice president told ABC News’ Good Morning America.