Why Bedingfield stayed

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Aug 01, 2022 View in browser   By Alex Thompson , Jonathan Lemire and Max Tani Presented by Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice.  Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Max   When it was reported on Friday that White House Communications Director KATE BEDINGFIELD was reversing course and staying on the job, the original line was that she'd agreed to do so after being asked by chief of staff RON KLAIN and the president himself. That was not the full story. While Klain had asked her to stay an extra week after JOE BIDEN tested positive for Covid-19, Bedingfield was the one who asked to keep her job weeks after she announced she was leaving, according to five people familiar with the matter. The original framing of the news frustrated people inside and outside the White House. "You're here to serve," said one person close to the White House. "It's not the story of how the president needed you." Bedingfield clarified the original line by alluding to her own indecisiveness in a tweet : "A massive thank you to everyone (every. one.) who endured listening to me wax on about how I regretted my decision to leave." And in a statement to West Wing Playbook, Bedingfield said: "As I said in the email announcing my decision, it was absolutely my call to stay, which I chose to do because of my loyalty to this team and to this President. They were gracious enough to let me reverse a decision I regretted. There is so much more to do and I am excited to work on it with the incredible people in this Administration." But behind closed doors, the reaction was mostly muted. Some people weren't surprised that Bedingfield reversed course. While one source with direct knowledge said there was some interest from television news networks in bringing her on as a contributor, she did not have pre-baked offers like former press secretary JEN PSAKI, who departed the White House with an MSNBC job in hand. For others, however, her reversal was surprising. Plans were already in full swing for how to operate without her. KATE BERNER, the White House deputy communications director, had been told she was going to be filling in until Bedingfield's replacement was chosen, according to three people familiar with the matter., according to three people familiar with the matter. She would serve until a permanent replacement was named. The White House had already zeroed in on LIZ ALLEN, currently leading comms at the State Department, as a replacement — though talks had not been finalized. There were at least two going away parties planned, too: one at the White House and another off-campus with senior adviser ANITA DUNN and other confidantes. And NBC News reported that a "major overhaul" of the press shop was coming in the wake of her departure. But Bedingfield's change of heart leaves much of that up in the air. People in the White House are divided on whether that's good or bad. When Bedingfield first announced she was leaving, there was a wave of sadness and acceptance within the West Wing, according to two staffers and Democrats close to the White House. No one begrudged Bedingfield for leaving and, presumably, moving to the private sector. Her goodbyes were warm, but many of those in the building felt it might be time to shake up a communications team that had taken repeated hits in recent months. Even so, there is relief in some quarters that she is staying. Bedingfield, who began working for Biden in 2015 , has been a stalwart of his through many highs and lows. Some White House officials believed that she should have been named press secretary over KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, though a White House official previously told us she did not make a play for the job despite expressing interest in it at the beginning of the administration . Bedingfield's reversal was not welcomed in all parts of the administration or among all Democrats close to the White House. Among other things, there was a sense among some people that the about-face was driven in part by convenience. Senate Democrats had resuscitated a reconciliation deal and gas prices were coming down, enhancing the possibilities that the comms shop would enter a rare stretch where it could glide on some good news. Those who committed to stay through the end of the year — as Klain had asked them to do — did so without expectation that the political climate would brighten. Bedingfield was essentially getting a do-over. "The people who signed on the dotted line two weeks ago [were agreeing] to eat shit sandwiches," as one person close to the White House put it. A White House aide who had had a direct conversation with her before the reconciliation bill revival said Bedingfield had conveyed her misgivings about leaving well before then. In addition, there was irritation with Bedingfield inside and outside the White House at what they felt was a gratuitous shot at liberal activists on her way out the door. "Joe Biden's goal in responding to Dobbs is not to satisfy some activists who have been consistently out of step with the mainstream of the Democratic Party," she told The Washington Post as those activists demanded Biden take bolder action following the ending of Roe . Even if accurate, her critics said it wasn't strategic. A source familiar with the matter said she was speaking for the White House, not going rogue and that the statement was broadly authorized internally. More broadly, however, is the sense that the White House will now miss an opportunity for a needed reset. Even with the political landscape improving, Biden has an approval rating in the high 30s. Among some people in the administration, there's a belief the press shop's formula is not working. As one former Biden aide and close ally bluntly assessed the comms team: "They are gutterly defensive and incapable of metabolizing the reality that they are doing a terrible job." MESSAGE US — Are you KATE BEDINGFIELD? We want to hear from you! And we'll keep you anonymous if you'd like. Or if you think we missed something in today's edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com . A message from Meta: The metaverse may be virtual, but the impact will be real In the metaverse, biology students will have a larger-than-life view of microscopic organisms—transforming what is possible for science education, research and medical breakthroughs. Learn how Meta is helping build the metaverse.   POTUS PUZZLER This one is from Alex. Which president loved his horse so much that when it died, he inscribed the grave with the following: "Here lies the body of my good horse 'The General.' For twenty years he bore me around the circuit of my practice, and in all that time he never made a blunder. Would that his master could say the same!" (Answer at bottom.) The Oval BREAKING: The United States, in a drone strike, killed Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri. The strike took place over the weekend, sources familiar with the situation confirmed to POLITICO. Biden is set to speak about the strike later tonight. FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: The White House's office of digital strategy is getting some reinforcements, a White House official confirmed. JOY NGUGI has been named senior presidential producer, TERICKA LAMBERT will be the new deputy director of the Office of Digital Strategy, while RACHEL VELASQUEZ will join as a director of video and MEGAN COYNE will come on board as the White House's deputy platforms director. STAT OF THE DAY: This seems like a tough way to do your job…. Fox News did a dive today on how often Jean-Pierre took sustained questions from the press by herself and with someone other official accompanying her. The network found that about 66 percent of the time (25 out of 38 total press briefings and gaggles) "at least a second person" was "joining her at the microphone." Some of this is circumstance: the Covid pandemic, lingering gas prices, the invasion of Ukraine — they all lend themselves to having a subject matter expert up there with her. But Jean-Pierre's defenders have taken this as a signal of a lack of faith in her, too. JOHN KIRBY, the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, briefed reporters alongside KJP today. COVID REDUX: It's baaack! Over the weekend, Biden tested positive again for Covid. But the president hasn't experienced any recurring symptoms, both his doctor, KEVIN O'CONNOR, and Jean-Pierre said today. The president "is feeling fine" and will continue to isolate at the White House residence, KJP said. Biden had six close contacts since he emerged from isolation late last week, but none of those people have tested positive so far. Because he's no longer on the antiviral medication Paxlovid — likely the cause of his rebound case — the president has resumed taking blood thinners, according to Jean-Pierre, who said Biden's relapse was "expected." WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ : This Axios item from MIKE ALLEN that makes the case that Biden — despite a poor penchant for salesmanship — has already made a deep imprint as president. "Biden has slowly but substantially re-engineered significant parts of the American economy — achievements obscured by COVID, inflation and broad disenchantment," Allen writes. Ron Klain shared the piece this morning. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN'T WANT YOU TO READ: The New York Times has a new longread on a decades-long string of failures that led to the U.S. monkeypox vaccine shortage. While the mistakes spanned multiple administrations, the Biden administration is now confronting the reality that "the United States now finds itself unable to procure enough doses to quickly launch a widespread vaccination campaign for those at highest risk: men who have sex with men, and in particular, those who have multiple partners."   STAY UP TO DATE WITH CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android . CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE.     THE BUREAUCRATS ON THE MOVE: ALEXANDRA ROBINSON has been detailed to Vice President Kamala Harris' office as a speechwriter, DANIEL LIPPMAN reports. Robinson, also a member of Speechwriters of Color, comes from the Department of Labor, where she was deputy speechwriter for Secretary Marty Walsh. RICK HART announced in a tweet that he is joining the White House as the Special Assistant to the Director of Presidential Personnel. He was previously a staffer in Sen. RAPHAEL WARNOCK's office. Agenda Setting BIDEN V. PUTIN: POLITICO's LARA SELIGMAN writes that the U.S. has assessed that Ukraine did not attack a prison in a Russian-occupied eastern region of Donetsk with American-made rocket launchers last week, directly contradicting Russian claims, according to two U.S. officials.   A message from Meta:   What We're Reading The Kamala Conundrum (New York Magazine's Gabriel Debenedetti) Will the Biggest Publisher in the United States Get Even Bigger? (NYT's Alexandra Alter, Elizabeth A. Harris and David McCabe) White House Urges Calm in Beijing With Pelosi Headed for Taiwan (Bloomberg's Jordan Fabian, Jenny Leonard, and Nancy Cook) What We're Watching Biden's televised remarks from the Blue Room Balcony on what the administration labeled a "successful counterterrorism operation," about the strike on al-al-Zawahri. The president will speak at 7:30 p.m. ET.   INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY .     The Oppo Book On the road to becoming the White House's broadcast media director, LUCAS ACOSTA was quite the college crooner. In addition to being a bass in the college choir — just take a look at the very exciting program guide for the "Middlebury Bach Festival" — he was very involved in an acapella group. I'm pleased to tell you that we found a video of Acosta performing a solo. The song: Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain." I think we can all agree: he's pretty good! He really gets going at the three-minute mark. While the video description says the group was called the "Mamajamas," Acosta told West Wing Playbook the "name of the group is Stuck in the Middle, not the Mamajamas. That was the coed group and I like to think we were better." POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER President JOHN TYLER was the horse lover, burying "General" on his property, the Sherwood Forest Plantation. According to Atlas Obscura, that began a tradition of burying all the family pets there, where a small pet cemetery is found. "For generations thereafter, dogs and cats alike were buried alongside The General, many of their headstones bearing similarly funny phrases and quotes. Alongside small wooden crosses stand adorable stone statues of felines and canines." You can see some pictures here.  A CALL OUT — Do you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents with a citation and we may feature it. Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein. A message from Meta: The metaverse will help future aviation mechanics gain skills In the metaverse, aviation mechanics will have an immersive way to learn and master their work from any location—helping them better prepare to keep us all moving. The metaverse may be virtual, but the impact will be real. Learn how Meta is helping build the metaverse.     Follow us on Twitter Alex Thompson @AlexThomp Maxwell Tani @maxwelltani Allie Bice @alliebice   Follow us

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