(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., sounded the alarm over a leadership vacuum in D.C. as President Joe Biden vacationed at a lavish ranch and Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned nationwide.
Speaking on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures, Donalds questioned if Susan Rice, the former National Security Advisor and current White House advisor, might be the one actually running the White House.
“Who is running the country?” host Maria Bartiromo asked Sunday, noting escalating tensions in the Middle East between Israel and Hezbollah.
“To be quite frank with you, Maria, I have no idea,” Donalds replied, pointing out Biden’s stay at a $37 million ranch in California. “I’m not quite sure who’s running the place. Maybe Susan Rice is still in charge, for all we know. I have no idea.”
Bartiromo questioned who has led the country in the past and who would if Harris emerged victorious in the 2024 presidential election.
Bartiromo prefaced her question by playing a video of former President Barack Obama expressing his wish to play a behind-the-scenes role in the White House.
“It very well might be [Obama],” Donalds said in response to the video. “Even if you look at the Biden-Harris administration, a lot of the staff are Obama holdovers from the Obama-Biden administration.”
He added that media reports suggest Harris is already looking at retaining key people from the current administration.
After inheriting Biden’s campaign apparatus, Harris hired several key figures behind Obama’s 2008 and 2012 victories, according to New York Magazine.
These hires include 2008 Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter, organizing operative Mitch Stewart and communications director Jennifer Palmieri.
Former Obama speechwriter Adam Frankel also assists Harris. Former Attorney General Eric Holder previously led her vice-presidential vetting.
