White House Rips Politico Report Claiming ‘Exodus of Black Staffers’: ‘Intentionally’ Ignored Staff Who Undermined Narrative

The White House

The White House is pushing back hard on a Politico report that claims an “exodus” of Black staffers has current Black staff concerned about the “Blaxit,” saying the site “intentionally” left out statements that undermined that narrative — and providing those comments to Mediaite.

The Daniel Lippman-authored article is entitled “Biden sees exodus of Black staffers and some frustration among those who remain,” and posits a flurry of exits so “pronounced” that “according to one current and one former White House official, some Black aides have adopted a term for them: ‘Blaxit.'”

The article cites “interviews with nine current and former Black White House officials,” including “Three Black staffers who currently work in the White House — and were granted anonymity because of fear of reprisal.”

While Lippman includes comments rejecting the narrative from current White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and former senior adviser Cedric Richmond, among others, the White House says that Politico omitted a mountain of comments from current and former Black staffers that undermined the narrative of the article.

White House Director of African American Media Erica Loewe accused the site of deliberately and disingenuously silencing the voices of those staffers.

“Even though far more current and former staff told Politico about their positive experiences, Politico refused to communicate those findings to readers and instead devoted most of this article to comments that reinforce their narrative and present a disingenuous picture of the most diverse White House in history,” Loewe said in a statement to Mediaite.

“Instead of including their on-the-record sentiments, Politico singled out Black staff who left at a normal time for general turnover and then intentionally kept their own perspectives about their stories in the dark,” Loewe wrote.

The White House provided Mediaite with quotes from over half a dozen current and former Black staffers whose remarks, the White House says, Politico refused to include:

• Trey Baker: “Every day this administration works to ensure that it meets the goals that the President set on day one – to approach every issue with an eye towards equity. That includes both policy and personnel. I’ve seen firsthand the opportunities for growth and advancement at the White House and know that there’s not only an open line of communication with senior staff but also ongoing efforts to be solutions-oriented.”
• Rykia Dorsey-Craig: “Every day that I walk through those gates, I am aware of what an honor and privilege it is to serve in a White House that prioritizes equity and the advancement of staff. I was promoted within my first year and now manage the Regional Comms Team — one of the most integral parts of our comms operation. My leadership and ideas are clearly welcomed and recognized by senior leadership and I remain committed to this team and the work we do each day.”
• Connor Maxwell: “The past sixteen months working in the Biden-Harris White House have been the experience of a lifetime. Since day one, my colleagues have looked for and provided me with countless opportunities to grow professionally while helping to advance the President’s economic agenda. They have also moved mountains to give me the time and support I needed during multiple family health emergencies. I am leaving the White House for one reason only: to spend more time with family.”
• Funmi Olurunnipa: “My experience at the White House has been a professional highlight for me and it has been an honor to serve and support the Biden-Harris Administration. I only left my role to take on a new professional opportunity and to spend more time with my family.”
• Cameron Trimble: “There was a great culture both on my team and in the building. The office of Digital Strategy really had a great vibe, great creative energy and we all collaborated well both internally and with every project we worked on with other departments and teams. We were supported by senior leadership to really push the creative envelope about maximizing the reach of the internet to use new tools, digital trends and creative collaborations with digital media platforms, national organizations, content creators and digital influencers. As the director of African American paid media on the campaign, I worked closely with Cedric and Jen to use ever platform and new tactics to reach the Black community. Those relationships and engagements from the senior leaders carried over to the White House and helped to create a good environment to do creative and effective work. JOD, Cedric and other senior leads both on the campaign and during the administration made sure that not just me but multiple Black folks had a seat at the table.”
• Erin Wilson: “Next week I will start my new role as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President and Deputy Assistant to the President. It is a true honor and privilege to serve President Biden and Vice President Harris on their senior staff with the support of White House leadership, including Jen O’Malley Dillon. Since the campaign and joining the White House Office of Political Strategy and Outreach, Jen has offered her support in any way needed.”
• Gabe Amo: I have personally known Jen O’Malley Dillon to be a champion and advocate for Black staff. I know that having Black staff at the table will continue to be a priority for her and the White House leadership as we execute the President’s agenda.

All of the quotes the White House says Politico refused to run contradict the narrative, and many of them demonstrate a facet of the turnover that’s largely overlooked or dismissed in Politico’s reckoning: the “exodus” includes people — Joelle Gamble, who left for a more senior post at the Department of Labor; Elizabeth Wilkins, who left to become Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission; Symone Sanders, who got her own TV show; and Vince Evans, who left to become the top staffer at the Congressional Black Caucus — who left for better opportunities.

Along those lines, the White House points out that, according to their data, “approximately 15% of Black staff have been promoted into more senior roles, which is greater than the rate for non-diverse staff. Of the Black staff members who have departed the White House since the start of the Administration, approximately 36% have advanced to new roles at agencies within the Federal Government.” (Politico did note that a White House official told them “15 percent of Black staffers have been promoted in the last year.”)

In fact, Politico only included one quote from a named former staffer discussing her exit:

But others described a need to refocus in general, having spent years operating in a tense work environment with little time off.

“I worked for both the President and the Vice President during the campaign cycle, and considered the chance to serve the American people in the Biden-Harris White House nothing short of an honor,” said Austin in an email. “I loved my experience on the press team, and left because I wanted a chance to spend more time with family after nearly three years straight of campaigns and government work.”

And as Politico briefly noted, the White House says it will continue to address diversity as turnover occurs.

“As the Administration approaches the 18-month mark, we expect increased staff turnover, which is natural and precedented in any administration around this time,” a White House official said in a statement. “As we look to the future, the Administration is taking concrete actions to ensure we maintain a diverse staff as this point of natural turnover. With the infrastructure of our people operations now in place, we will build on the work to date to further our efforts in three key areas: supporting the retention of current White House staff, strengthening the White House’s recruitment efforts, and launching the White House Internship Program, all of which will help maintain a White House staff that looks like and represents America.”

Of course, it’s not a requirement that a news organization print every syllable of every comment that’s given to them, and none of this is to say that the unnamed staffers should be ignored. But as it stands, a reader would have no way of knowing that there were, in fact, more sources willing to go on the record in defense of President Joe Biden‘s administration than the number of anonymous sources who criticized it.