(Headline USA) Amidst rumors that White House chief of staff Ron Klain might be stepping down after the 2022 midterm elections, another report claims President Joe Biden is considering tapping Anita Dunn, a senior aide who advised convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein, to replace him.
Klain is planning to “depart at some point after the midterms,” according to several people close to Biden who spoke to NBC News. Dunn is considered one of the top candidates to replace him, the report added, noting that she quietly joined the White House earlier this year as a “special government employee.”
Dunn has been described by people close to Biden as a “confidant whom he often turns to when his fortunes look bleak.”
However, she is best known for advising Weinstein’s team in 2017 right before the New York Times published a story detailing the sexual assault allegations made against him. Weinstein reportedly contacted Dunn for “damage control advice.”
Dunn has denied that she was paid for her advice and said in a statement through her firm that she was “asked to speak with [Weinstein] by a friend.”
Dunn has also praised Chinese communist dictator Mao Zhedong as one of her “favorite political philosophers” and was forced to resign from her position as former President Barack Obama‘s communications director in 2009 as a result.
Other White House staffers in consideration for Klain’s job are White House counselor Steve Ricchetti and White House domestic policy director Susan Rice. Failed Democratic Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe also reportedly reached out to Biden about the chief of staff position.
Klain, however, has denied setting a timeline for himself.
“As Ron has said publicly, he has not set a time frame, and this is not a discussion on the top of anyone’s mind here,” senior White House communications advisor Remi Yamamoto said in a statement.
