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Vice President Kamala Harris‘ new communications director once suggested President Biden was “dazed and confused” and accused former President Trump of “pushing a janky science vaccine.”
Jamal Simmons is set to be named the new communications director for Harris, replacing Ashley Etienne, who left in December, Fox News has confirmed.
HARRIS NAMES NEW COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR AFTER WAVE OF STAFF DEPARTURES
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks from Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol to mark one year since the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol by supporters loyal to then-President Trump, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Simmons previously hosted a news show for The Hill called “Why You Should Care,” in which he aired a segment in August 2019 titled “Dazed & Confused,” poking fun at Biden for the many conflated and exaggerated stories he’s told the public over the years.
“We do this story about once a week!” Simmons said at the time. “It’s what you get with Uncle Joe.”
Simmons also cast doubt on COVID-19 vaccines while the Trump administration rushed to get one approved for emergency use in 2020.
“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 in September 2020.
During the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, Simmons warned that Biden shouldn’t get “too comfortable” with the Black vote.
“I think #JoeBiden’s heart is in the right place but I just heard the perfect summation of his position,” he tweeted in May 2020. “‘Black ppl are happy to have Biden at the cookout but he should remember he didn’t get the original invitation on his own. He was a plus one.’ Don’t get too comfortable.”
Jamal Simmons attends META – Convened by BET Networks at The Edition Hotel on Feb. 20, 2020, in Los Angeles. (Robin L Marshall/Getty Images for BET)
Simmons also had a few things to say about then-Sen. Harris’ presidential campaign during the Democratic primary.
“Prior to the debate I had been having bad feelings about the Harris campaign,” he wrote in July 2019. “It seemed listless, unfocused. These lackluster fundraising totals are not a surprise. I’m curious to see how this changes over the summer, now that Kamala’s poll numbers have increased and Biden seems more like a winged bird than the inevitable nominee.”
After Harris dropped out of the race in December 2019, Simmons said Harris had a hard time going off script in her arguments and criticism of her opponents, and that she “never quite got comfortable getting out of the pre-planned moment.”
“When Kamala Harris goes into a room, frankly sometimes when Joe Biden goes into a room you just don’t know what will happen in that room, what they will argue,” Simmons added.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris depart after delivering speeches to mark one year since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 6, 2022. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool)
Simmons has also tweeted comments that would likely spark the ire of today’s progressives.
In 2010, Simmons repeatedly advocated for the arrest of illegal immigrants.
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“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 Nov. 29, 2010.
“I’ll try this again: Just saw 2 undocumented folks talking on MSNBC and have serious legal question. Why wouldn’t ICE pick them up?” he asked. “We [should] harden borders & ease visas/find ways to bring undocumented into legal status/punish employers. My [question] was [a] common sense one.”
Harris’ office has not responded to a request for comment.
Fox News’ Cameron Cawthorne, Peter Hasson and Pat Ward contributed reporting
