Michael LaRosa, former spokesperson for Jill Biden, has revealed that a clique of “mean girls” exerted significant influence within the White House, creating a toxic “cult-like” atmosphere and policing loyalty among staffers, the New York Post reports. LaRosa’s statements, made in a recent Fox News op-ed, coincide with Vice President Kamala Harris shedding light on long-rumored bullying in her forthcoming book, which LaRosa claims finally “articulates the unspoken truth” insiders have faced for years.
LaRosa described how these dominant personalities—a reference to the villainous Regina George from the film “Mean Girls”—blurred lines between leadership and created an environment where it was unclear who held actual authority: the Bidens themselves, or these inner-circle enforcers. He recounted that staffers functioned more like members of a “cult” than conventional aides, devoted not just to the president and first lady, but also to the unwritten code established by the White House’s “mean girl” elite.
“Staff weren’t serving a president and first lady — they were serving a cult,” LaRosa said. “You never knew when Regina was in charge or when the Bidens were. It was all blurred.
Though LaRosa insisted that Joe and Jill Biden are “warm, decent, empathetic” people, he accused their bubble of unintentionally sheltering some of the harshest and least pleasant individuals in politics. This contradiction, he suggested, became a defining aspect of the Biden administration, especially amid efforts to maintain internal loyalty.
“Joe and Jill Biden were warm, decent, empathetic,” LaRosa added. “But they enabled some of the nastiest and most mean-spirted people I’ve ever encountered in politics. That contradiction defines the Biden era.”
During LaRosa’s tenure, Anthony Bernal served as chief of staff for the first lady, earning the nickname “work husband” and attracting accusations of creating a difficult, bullying environment among personnel.
According to The Post, “Notably, during the latter part of LaRosa’s tenure, Anthony Bernal took charge as the chief of staff for the first lady. Bernal, whom some described as Jill Biden’s ‘work husband,’ was widely seen as one of the most powerful chiefs of staff to a first lady in US history. Many staffers accused him of bullying and being a nightmare to work for, as The Post previously reported.”
LaRosa refrained from specifying names but described prevailing intimidation by those closest to the Bidens, fueling ongoing uncertainty about who truly controlled the dynamics within the White House.
Kamala Harris’ upcoming memoir, 107 Days, recounts tensions between her and Biden’s staff—an issue that was widely reported by sources at the time.
“I often learned that the president’s staff was adding fuel to negative narratives that sprang up around me,” Harris wrote, according to a preview by The Atlantic, The Post reports. “One narrative that took a stubborn hold was that I had a ‘chaotic’ office and unusually high staff turnover during my first year.”
“Their thinking was zero-sum: If she’s shining, he’s dimmed,” Harris said. “None of them grasped that if I did well, he did well. That given the concerns about his age, my visible success as his vice president was vital.