Black Harris Staffers Report Alleged Discrimination During Campaign
A group of Black staffers from Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign have alleged they faced instances of "outright discrimination" within the organization during her unsuccessful bid for the White House, according to a recent report.
The New York Times highlighted accounts from several staff members who described launching a "clandestine" initiative to engage voters in predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in key cities like Philadelphia, just days before the election.
The report detailed how dozens of campaign staffers went "rogue," gathering at a Dunkin' Donuts to coordinate what they referred to as "Operation Dunkin-kirk," a nod to the British military's retreat at Dunkirk during World War II. The effort symbolized their feeling of abandonment and the need to rescue voter outreach efforts.
Staffers reportedly uncovered a "striking breakdown" in the campaign's voter mobilization strategy. Dissatisfied with ineffective phone-banking assignments, they took matters into their own hands by organizing door-knocking campaigns aimed at connecting with Black and Latino voters, who are typically strong supporters of Democratic candidates.
Amelia Pernell, one of the organizers behind the impromptu field office in North Philadelphia, told the Times, "I was the first one knocking on these doors. They hadn’t talked to anybody. It was like: 'Hey, nobody has come to our neighborhood. The campaign doesn’t care about us.'"
Tensions reportedly escalated after the campaign's loss. An internal survey commissioned by Harris' campaign revealed that Black staffers felt their ideas were dismissed far more frequently than those of their peers. The survey also exposed concerns about racial discrimination within the campaign. The results of the survey were shared with campaign leadership, according to the Times.
Critics pointed to the campaign’s financial mismanagement, citing nearly $1.5 billion spent without securing a win. Some insiders expressed frustration at the lack of accountability.
Lindy Li, a member of the Democratic National Committee's finance committee, shared her perspective on the campaign’s internal dynamics during an interview with NewsNation’s Rich McHugh. Li noted that conflicts and financial disarray prompted some staff members to resign.
Li, who participated in a post-election call with Harris donors and staffers, described the vice president’s tone as "self-congratulatory" despite the campaign’s historic loss, marking the first time a Democratic presidential candidate failed to win the popular vote since 2004.
"She actually held two calls, one for her top donors and one for grassroots," Li explained. "I was speaking and texting with fellow attendees in the call, and we were amazed by how self-congratulatory the tone was. The call lasted about 20 to 30 minutes."
Li added that no one on the call appeared to take responsibility for the campaign’s shortcomings. "I don’t recall anyone taking responsibility for the fact that we spent about $2 billion across the super PAC and the campaign and came up so significantly short. We lost seven swing states."
During the call, Harris was praised as a "visionary leader," according to Li. However, she noted a surprising shift in tone. "I believe at one moment during the call she was talking about her Thanksgiving recipe. I don’t say this with any malice or anything. I’m just merely conveying what happened. I think I was stunned to hear that, given just the extent and brutality of the loss."
Li expressed concern about the Democratic Party’s future, stating that many staffers felt directionless after the election. "I’m just frankly stunned that there was no sort of postmortem or analysis of how we can do better, what sort of lessons were learned. It was really just patting each other on the back, congratulating each other on I’m not sure what, and saying we’ll see you for Christmas."
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