Former Staffers Describe Harris As ‘Soul-Destroying Bully’ Who Left Them In Tears
Several former staffers of Vice President Kamala Harris have spoken out against their former boss, labeling her a “bully” and describing the workplace as one where degrading tirades often left people in tears.
In an interview with author Charlie Spiering for the UK’s Daily Mail, the staffers called Harris a “soul-destroying bully,” which they say led to a remarkably high turnover rate among her team.
“Only four of the initial 71 staffers hired by Harris during her first year in office still remain in a job. The rest either quit or were fired, according to analysis by non-partisan watchdog Open The Books,” Spiering reported. “That translates to a 92 percent staff turnover rate – and, say critics, is a likely sign that the issues on Team Harris have more to do with her than anyone else.”
In his recently published biography on Harris, Amateur Hour, Spiering says his sources shared “horror stories” of working under her leadership, many of which he found “shocking.”
This behavior allegedly dates back to her time as California's attorney general, where she was said to run a “toxic” work environment. Barbara O’Connor, a professor at the University of California-Sacramento, recounted that several of her students who interned for Harris “frequently came back to her crying and saying that they ‘felt they weren’t valued.’”
When Harris transitioned to her role as a U.S. senator in 2016, she reportedly brought the same harsh work environment with her to Washington, D.C. According to Spiering’s analysis, her office had the ninth-highest staff turnover rate among 114 senators between 2017 and 2020. Congressional sources claimed she would regularly berate subordinates with expletive-filled tirades.
Republican staffers were not immune to her harsh treatment. During the 2018 confirmation hearings for now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Harris reportedly lashed out at a room full of Senate staffers, including those working for Republican senators, yelling, “Anyone who’s staff, get the f*** out of here!”
Spiering further noted an explosive resignation letter from Harris’s former State Operations Director, Kelly Mehlenbacher, which was shared with The New York Times in November 2019. Mehlenbacher slammed Harris’s treatment of staff, writing: "I have never seen an organization treat its staff so poorly.” She criticized the campaign for relocating staff to Baltimore only to lay them off with no notice, adding, “Morale has never been lower.”
Harris’s alleged mistreatment of her staff appears to have continued since becoming vice president. In a 2021 Washington Post story, current and former staffers shared candid insights, many anonymously. One former staffer said, “It’s clear that you’re not working with somebody who is willing to do the prep and the work.” They added that working with Harris involved “a constant amount of soul-destroying criticism” and that she often lacked confidence, leaving staff in the position of “propping up a bully.”
Earlier in 2021, Politico also reported on the alleged abusive environment in Harris’s office, citing a source familiar with her management style: “People are thrown under the bus from the very top, there are short fuses, and it’s an abusive environment.” They described Harris’s office as a place where staff felt “mistreated” rather than supported.