Kamala Harris criticized by former Obama staffers: “Brat to Flat”

Vice President Kamala Harris has drawn criticism from at least two former advisers to former President Barack Obama.

Obama, one of the Democratic Party's most popular figures, endorsed Harris in the final days of her campaign. Polls suggest the race between her and former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, remains extremely close and is likely to be decided by narrow margins in key battleground states.

But while Obama has urged voters to choose Harris, some of his former advisers have criticized the vice president's campaign.

Van Jones, who was once an Obama adviser, said Harris' campaign has gone from “blow to flutter” since it launched in July, referring to Democrats' embrace of a social media trend, that of pop singers Charlie XCX was inspired brat album over the summer.

At a recent appearance on Real Time with Bill MaherJones suggested that Harris' loss of momentum was partly because her campaign was now “not as fun.”

“Growing up, Kamala was fun,” he said. “Remember, it was a politics of joy, it was fun… and then we went from brat to apartment and it's just not as fun anymore.”

Jones, who served as an adviser on environmental innovation and green jobs in the Obama administration in 2009, also praised Trump's recent visit to a McDonald's location in Pennsylvania as a “brilliant” move.

“I think we have to acknowledge that this guy is screwing us over with these so-called publicity stunts,” he said.

“It gets on everyone’s feeds and people who don’t care about politics will watch it. I think we just need to have more fun ourselves. We had a great time at the Democratic National Convention. If we have more fun, if ours.” “If the Democratic Party is a party full of fun, people will join in. We should do crazy things too.”

Newsweek emailed the Harris and Trump campaigns seeking comment. Obama's office was also emailed for comment.

Jones' comments came after David Axelrod, a former top Obama adviser, pointed out Harris' habit of going to “Word Salad City” when answering questions.

Axelrod, a political commentator for CNN, said Harris' town hall with CNN on Wednesday was a “mixed evening” for the vice president.

“I think she was very strong coming out of the gate and she obviously came with a purpose,” he said, adding that she was prepared to address comments from Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly that the Republican nominee the definition of a candidate meets fascist and that Trump suggested that Adolf Hitler “did some good things” during his time in office.

“She was very strong because she stood up for abortion rights because she was passionate about it. She can be sober on some of these economic issues. She was great in long-term care for the elderly, helping people.”

“The things that would concern me is that when she doesn't want to answer a question, she has a habit of going to word salad town, and she did that with a few answers.”

He said Harris responded to Anderson Cooper's question about whether she would be stronger than Trump on Israel with “a seven-minute answer, but none of it related to the question he was asking.”

He added: “On certain issues like this, such as immigration, I thought she had missed an opportunity by not acknowledging concerns about the government's policies and that is a mistake. Sometimes you have to admit things, and she didn't give in much.”

Axelrod addressed his criticism on Thursday, saying that Harris faces “additional pressure” since she only entered the race in July after President Joe Biden abandoned his re-election bid.

“She is in a more difficult position because she basically had to introduce herself to the American people within 90 days (…). “Her answers are being scrutinized more closely because people are looking for clues about who she is and where she is going,” he said.