White House Pushes Back Against Report Suggesting an ‘Exodus of Black Staffers’

The White House reacted to a report published by Politico suggesting there is an “exodus of Black staffers” from the administration. Politico’s Daniel Lippman penned an article titled, “Biden sees exodus of Black…

Savannah RychcikMay 31, 20223 min read

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They added, “Think about any workplace. Black folks need some person to go to, to strategize and be a mentor, and we just don’t have as many folks who can be mentors to us.”

White House Director of African American Media Erica Loewe issued a statement to Mediaite responding to the report.

“Even though far more current and former staff told Politico about their positive experiences, Politico refused to communicate those findings to readers and instead devoted most of this article to comments that reinforce their narrative and present a disingenuous picture of the most diverse White House in history,” Loewe said.

She continued, “Instead of including their on-the-record sentiments, Politico singled out Black staff who left at a normal time for general turnover and then intentionally kept their own perspectives about their stories in the dark.”

Additionally, the outlet reported the White House provided it with quotes from over half a dozen current and former Black staffers whose remarks, the administration claims, Politico would not include.

A White House official explained as the administration approaches the 18-month mark, “We expect increased staff turnover, which is natural and precedented in any administration around this time,” as Mediaite reported.

The statement continues, “As we look to the future, the Administration is taking concrete actions to ensure we maintain a diverse staff as this point of natural turnover. With the infrastructure of our people operations now in place, we will build on the work to date to further our efforts in three key areas: supporting the retention of current White House staff, strengthening the White House’s recruitment efforts, and launching the White House Internship Program, all of which will help maintain a White House staff that looks like and represents America.”