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White House communications director Kate Bedingfield will step down from her position before the end of the summer, according to a report.
Politico reported on the coming departure and connected it to other recent resignations from President Joe Biden’s administration:
Her exit comes on the heels of Jen Psaki’s decision to step down as press secretary and during a period of internal uncertainty over the structure and makeup of the White House’s larger press operations. In addition to Psaki, a number of mid- and lower-level press aides have left in the past two months.
Democrats have grown openly critical of the Biden team’s communications strategy in recent weeks and months. Longtime Biden aide Anita Dunn recently returned to the White House as a senior adviser and has been working to shore up the operation.
Bedingfield will reportedly step down within weeks after years of acting as one of Biden’s closest confidants.
CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe obtained a statement from White House chief of staff Ron Klain about the loss of Bedingfield.
First from @WHCOS’s statement sums up well how Biden World sees Bedingfield’s legacy: “Without Kate Bedingfield’s talent and tenacity, Donald Trump might still be in the White House, the Rescue Plan and the Infrastructure Law might still be unrealized goals…” pic.twitter.com/zgKDO3UE4Z
— Ed O’Keefe (@edokeefe) July 6, 2022
Bedingfield leaves amid a volley of criticism from within the party over an inability to connect with voters.
One anonymous Democratic Party strategist ripped the party earlier this year for failing to convey a winning message ahead of the midterms.
“Look, I’m not going to BS. We’ve done a f—ing horrible job and sometimes I think we deserve to lose big in November,” the Democrat told The Hill in April. “Democrats can say whatever they want but it’s not honest.”
The strategist added, “We need to wake up fast.”
Former President Barack Obama also commented on his party’s messaging woes at the White House in April.
NOW – Obama: “We got a story to tell, just got to tell it.”pic.twitter.com/8O5kTa6tRk
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) April 5, 2022
Asked what he would say to Democrats worried about keeping power after the midterms, he responded, “We got a story to tell, just got to tell it.”
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