Vice President Kamala Harris tried to encourage Democratic staffers facing layoffs from the DNC on Sunday, telling them that their “spirit will not be defeated.”
Harris made the comments during the DNC’s holiday celebration in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. She spoke alongside President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at the event, which played host to staffers who were let go from the DNC without severance packages after the election.
“This holiday season, like any time of the year, let us really be conscious of all the blessings we have. Let us celebrate the blessings we have; let us celebrate and advance the blessings we have yet to create,” Harris said. “And let us always remember our country is worth fighting for, and our spirit will not be defeated.”
“And hear me when I say this, that spirit that fuels the countless hours and days and months of work that you have put into this, that spirit. It can never be defeated. Our spirit is not defeated. We are not defeated. Let’s be clear about that. We are strong. We are clear about why we are in this. And because you’re here right now. I say again, thank you. Because not only are you clear about all of that, you’re willing to put in the hard work and that work must continue,” she said.
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Biden took the stage after Harris and defended the pair’s legacy as they prepare to leave office. He argued that the country is in a “resoundingly” better position today than when he and Harris entered the White House.
“The one thing I’ve always believed about public service, and especially about the presidency, is the importance of asking yourself, have we left the country in better shape than we found it? Today, I can say with every fiber of my being, of all my heart, the answer to that question is a resounding yes,” he said.
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He went on to encourage staffers to “stay engaged” in the years ahead.
“You’re not going anywhere, kid,” Biden said of Harris. “Because we’re not gonna let you.”
Some DNC staffers had expressed frustration at the post-election layoffs, which are relatively common in Washington, D.C. The DNC union objected to the lack of severance packages and other benefits when the layoffs were announced in late November.
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“We find it very cruel that DNC management is trying to claim that layoffs are just part of the job,” a DNC union member told Mother Jones. “And we feel strongly that losing an election has not absolved the organization of its responsibility to treat its workers with basic dignity.”
DNC Chair Jaime Harrison does not plan to seek re-election to his post, leaving a pool of would-be leaders to vie for the top position.
The next chair will be chosen by the roughly 450 voting members of the national party committee when they meet at the beginning of February at National Harbor in Maryland for the DNC’s winter meeting.
The long list of candidates seeking to replace Harrison includes former Chicago mayor and current U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, as well as Martin O’Malley, the former two-term Maryland governor. Ben Wikler, who has led the Democratic Party in Wisconsin for five years, has also thrown his hat in the ring.
