Vice President Kamala Harris's former top aide Symone Sanders is joining MSNBC after leaving the Biden administration less than two weeks ago, network president Rashida Jones announced on Monday.
Sanders will likely continue backing her ex-boss from the sidelines in her new role as a host on the left-leaning network's weekend programming. She's also signed on to host a Peacock streaming service show titled The Choice on MNSBC.
The top Democratic strategist is joining the Biden and Harris-friendly channel after defending Harris throughout a mountain of negativity plaguing her first year as vice president.
On top of consistently low poll numbers, the former California senator is grappling with a slew of reports painting her as a workplace bully and her office hemorrhages staffers in recent weeks.
A press release announcing Sanders' new gig states her show 'will explore issues at the intersection of politics, culture and race and break down how decisions made in Washington impact electorates, industries, and communities across the country.'
'She will also interview law and policy makers, top government officials, scholars, and thought leaders.'
Sanders' departure was one of more than a half-dozen that prompted speculation that Harris' office may be in disarray
Sanders (right, at a January 2020 campaign event with Joe Biden) will be hosting multiple shows on MSNBC, the left-leaning network's president announced less than two weeks after her departure from Kamala Harris' office
Sanders made her national name by being the youngest presidential press secretary when she worked for Bernie Sanders' 2016 campaign.
The 32-year-old defended her former boss in an interview published earlier this month in her hometown newspaper Omaha World-Herald, claiming it was the 'honor of her life' to serve Vice President Harris.
'She is someone who I watch every single day bring her full self to work,' Sanders said. 'I watch her challenge her teams, I watch her push us all to be better.
She added: 'I watch her raise issues and perspectives and topics and policy that other people — other folks just weren't thinking about.'
Sanders called the reports and rumors of dysfunction in Harris' office just 'salacious gossip.'
Meanwhile the public-facing disarray continued on Monday when an investigation of incoming Harris communications director Jamal Simmons' Twitter account found he dismissed George W. Bush as an 'illegitimate' president.
Kamala Harris' incoming communications director Jamal Simmons donated to Rand Paul's presidential campaign
He had claimed the election was 'stolen' from Al Gore and called Bush's 2000 victory illegitimate multiple times between 2012 and 2021, Fox News found.
Federal Election Commission filings revealed recently that Harris' incoming communications director also donated to Republican Senator Rand Paul’s presidential campaign in 2015.
Simmons gave $250 in June 2015 to Paul’s ultimately unsuccessful primary run for president.
The Kentucky senator was first elected to his post in 2010 and launched his presidential campaign in 2015. He dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses in February 2016 and was reelected to the Senate that year.
The information about Simmons' contribution comes after he already is off to a rocky start before even assuming his role in the vice president’s office.
Simmons was forced to apologize on Friday for a slew of previous tweets and comments that attacked Joe Biden, the COVID vaccine and spewed right-leaning immigration deportation views.
The two knocks also come amidst a PR nightmare for Harris after seven aides left her office in the months after her disastrous southern border trip in June and reports emerged of her ‘bully’ mentality and a toxic work environment.
With Simmons hiring, the vice president’s office is hoping to start anew.
In the 2015-2016 election season, Simmons also donated to several Democratic candidates and left-leaning entities.
He gave $500 to Harris’ run for Senate and another $500 combined donations to two separate Hillary Clinton-aligned groups to back the candidate in her run for president against Trump.
The new Harris aide, however, spent the first day after his hiring was revealed on cleanup duty.
Federal Election Commission filings reveal that Simmons gave $250 to Paul's campaign in June 2015. He also donated to Kamala Harris' Senate campaign and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in the 2015-2016 cycle
Simmons made a name for himself as a Democratic political analyst and operative with stints going back to the Bill Clinton administration. News of his hiring brought to light some of his more controversial tweets and statements.
“As a pundit I tweeted +spoke A LOT,” he tweeted Friday in a quick effort to address his past comments.
“At times, I've been sarcastic, unclear, or just plainly missed the mark. I apologize for offending [people] who care as much as I do about making America the best, multi-ethnic, diverse democracy,” he wrote.
He added: 'I'll help the Biden-Harris admin w/humility, sincerity+respect.'
One previous tweet touched on the red hot issue of immigration, which Harris has faced criticism for in her role as ‘border czar’.
'Just saw 2 undocumented folks talking on MSNBC. One Law student the other a protester. Can someone explain why ICE is not picking them up?' he tweeted back in 2010 amid one of many heated debates over U.S. immigration policy.
President Biden has charged Harris with focusing on the root causes of immigration, forcing her to already contend with political headaches over border crossings.
Chiming in on the issue was former White House aide Stephen Miller, an architect of the Trump Administration's controversial immigration policies.
'I agree with [Jamal Simmons]. If you break into our nation there must be deportation,' he wrote.
Jamal Simmons has been involved in national politics since the Clinton administration, and formerly served as deputy communications director for Al Gore's presidential campaign. He did a segment on a 'Dazed and Confused' Joe Biden as a media commentator in 2019
Simmons tweeted an apology Friday afternoon after some of his old tweets and comments surfaced criticizing Joe Biden, the COVID-19 vaccine and illegal immigrants
Years after the deportation tweet, Simmons ridiculed a 'dazed and confused' Joe Biden for conflating multiple stories while describing a trip to Afghanistan and criticized Donald Trump for pushing a 'janky science vaccine', it emerged on Friday.
Simmons has been brought on during an overhaul of the vice president's office, with her approval rating at a dire 32 percent and with seven staffers quitting since her disastrous border trip on June 25.
The veteran Democratic aide and TV commentator mocked Biden in 2019 for the gaffe during an episode of his politics show for The Hill called 'Why You Should Care.'
'We do this story about once a week!' he quipped. 'It’s what you get with Uncle Joe.'
The segment began with a headline that said 'Dazed and Confused,' as he broke down the latest stumble by the former vice president, who had called himself a 'gaffe machine.'
Simmons made the comments at a time when the Democratic nomination was wide open – and long before he would be brought on to try to right Harris' struggling communications operation.
He told of how Biden at a town hall had 'conflated' multiple stories from a trip to Afghanistan. It turned out Biden got the timing wrong, the province wrong, along with key details – the story was about an Army soldier, not a Navy captain.
'This is the God's truth, he says. "My word as a Biden." Turns out, it wasn't God's truth,' Simmons says to the camera.
" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0"
Simmons also critiqued Harris' run for president after she suspended her campaign, saying she 'pulled back in these very key moments.
He said she 'never quite got comfortable getting out of the pre-planned moments,' and criticized how she failed to capitalize on her early bussing attack on Biden, in another clip unearthed by Fox News. He said she also botched her handling of the fraught issue of Medicare for All during the primary.
Simmons also went after former President Donald Trump on his coronavirus response – even calling life-saving vaccines under development 'janky.'
'Trump’s fatally ill-managed Coronavirus response seems to have turned voters off to him the way Katrina destroyed Bush’s political reputation, but pushing a janky science vaccine into the public for political purposes would turn incompetent culpability into intentional harm, he tweeted.
Urging people to get vaccinated has become a cornerstone of Biden's coronavirus response.
Harris is bringing Simmons into her press shop to replace one of seven staffer's she's lost over the past six months amid her own communications challenges.
Simmons will join the team after communications director Ashley Etienne and chief spokesperson took their leave in November and December.
An official announcement was expected from the White House later on Thursday, sources told The Hill.
Simmons is said to be widely respected in Democratic circles, and his entrance will come as the vice president's office is looking for a reset amid low poll numbers and headlines reporting dysfunction and bitter tension within the office.
Simmons has been involved in national politics since the Clinton administration, and formerly served as deputy communications director for Al Gore's presidential campaign.
A source familiar with the move told The Hill Simmons is expected to 'really change things up.'
Simmons also worked as an aide to former Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., former Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark and was chief of staff former Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick, D-Mich.
He's also worked in media and frequents the cable news circuit.
Harris has now lost at least seven aides since her disastrous southern border trip on June 25 after her director of press operations Peter Velz confirmed Wednesday he is leaving his role with the White House.
Velz's announcement comes in the midst of a staff exodus following reports the vice president is a 'bully' who facilitates a toxic work environment and other reports indicate tensions between the president's staff and Harris'.
'Today is my last day at the White House, and it truly has been an honor,' Velz tweeted on Wednesday. 'I will be forever grateful to Vice President Harris, the incredible Team @VP, and I'm so proud of our work this past year supporting this historic Administration.'
'The White House is an amazing place to work -- you're surrounded by the most selfless, smart, hard-working people everyday doing their best to serve the American people. And it has has been an absolute joy,' he added.
Velz's next job will start later this month at the State Department's Protocol team where Velz says he will still support President Joe Biden and Harris in their meetings with foreign leaders, delegations and international travel.
His announcement comes the day after fellow staffer Vince Evans confirmed his departure from the vice president's office to replace Kyle Anderson as executive director with the Congressional Black Caucus.
Velz (left) made his announcement the day after Vince Evans (right) confirmed his departure from Harris' team
Velz confirmed his departure in a Wednesday tweet after reports emerged toward the end of 2021 that he was eyeing the exits in the midst of a staff exodus from the vice president's office
Velz will work with the State Department on the protocol team starting later in January
He posted a throw back image of hi at the press briefing room podium from 2021 and a
