Why it matters: As director of the White House Office of Public Engagement for the coming weeks, Bottoms will have instant access to some of the highest-level planning and strategy sessions in the West Wing – and to the president himself.
The role is integral to the development of Biden’s policies and then to convincing the broader Democratic coalition that the president is taking the right approach. The stakes are high: The Bottoms will be responsible for navigating different policy goals between progressives and centrists in view of what is expected to be a bad middle ground for Democrats. “Keisa is brilliant, honest, tough and has the integrity needed to represent our government to the American public,” Biden said in a statement. “Jill and I have known Keisha for a long time and we look forward to working more closely with her.”
News guidance: Bottoms told Axios in an interview that she intends to listen “more than anything else” and that “it is important for people to feel that their voices are reflected and their voices are heard.”
Democrats face the prospect of losing one or both houses of Congress in November and have struggled to find the right message for voters amid rising inflation and Biden’s declining acceptance. Bottoms, who has a reputation for honesty, has pledged to serve at least until his interim term, according to a senior executive. Richmond left the White House last month for the Democratic National Committee.
Between the lines: By electing Bottoms to replace Richmond, a black former Louisiana MP, Biden signals a continuing commitment to African-American voters and leaders to elevate people of color in his government.
Bottoms’s job as mayor of a major city in a critical situation – during a period that covered the start of the pandemic through nationwide protests against systemic racism – has given her experience with some of the most pressing and divisive internal issues face the Americans. As Axios previously reported, Biden was at one point considering former Transport Secretary Anthony Fox as Richmond’s successor.
What they say: “I know what it’s like to go through difficult times and how important it is to have strong leaders around you to navigate,” he told Axios.
“We have had some very difficult times, especially for African Americans in this country.” “These challenges are still very fresh and real to me. “And I live it every day: I live it as a black woman, I live it as a mother of four and I know where these challenges lie, but I also know where the opportunities are.”
Background: Like Richmond, Bottoms has been a close adviser to Biden since the early days of his 2020 campaign, when both were substitutes.
Botoms was one of the shortlisted names for Biden’s vice president. He chose Kamala Harris – and asked Bottoms to lead the Small Business Administration. As Axios was wiping at the time, she turned down the offer. Amid civil unrest following the assassination of George Floyd, Bottoms gave a press conference in Atlanta and urged protesters to go home: “This is not a protest. This is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. “This is chaos,” he said at the time. “If you are interested in this city, then go home.” And in an emotional interview on “Axios on HBO” in the summer of 2020, he spoke about the struggles of raising black children amid fears that they might be killed at the hands of the police who have taken over the protection of the public. She plans to spend most of her time in Washington, DC, but her family will stay in Atlanta.
