President Joe Biden is bringing on former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to serve as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, according to Axios.
Bottoms is replacing Cedric Richmond, one of Biden’s top aides who left the White House in May. She’s reportedly promised to serve through the midterm elections, a senior administration official told Axios. A White House official confirmed the news to CBS News.
“I know what it’s like to lead through difficult times and how important it is to have strong leaders around you to navigate,” Bottoms told Axios in an interview. “We’ve been through some very challenging times, especially for African Americans in this country.”
“Those 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 children, and I know where those challenges are, but I also know where the opportunities are,” she added.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President-elect Joe Biden speaks with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms as he campaigns for Georgia Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff ahead of their Jan. 5 runoff elections, at a drive-in campaign rally at Pullman Yard in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., December 15, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
Bottoms announced in May 2021 that she would not seek re-election as Atlanta’s mayor. She noted in her announcement that “the last three years have not been at all what I would have scripted for our city,” citing “a pandemic, a social justice movement” and “a madman in the White House,” referring to former President Donald Trump.
“It is abundantly clear to me today that it is time to pass the baton on to someone else,” Bottoms said at the time. (RELATED: Family Of 8-Year-Old Girl Fatally Shot In Atlanta Amid Protests Sues City, Mayor And Other Officials)
The former Atlanta mayor faced criticism throughout the COVID-19 pandemic over the city’s steep rise in crime. According to The New York Times, Atlanta saw a 58% increase in homicides in 2020 under her watch – and Bottoms appeared unable to fix the problem.
At one point, Bottoms blamed the rise in crime in Atlanta on statehouse Republicans. She told MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle in June 2021 that soft gun laws and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to tone down COVID-19 lockdown restrictions were partially to blame, The New York Post wrote at the time.
In her new role at the White House, Bottoms will have more direct access to Biden as well as some of the most important administration meetings, Axios noted.
The former Atlanta mayor was reportedly on Biden’s short list of vice presidential candidates and is also rumored to have declined a past offer to serve under Biden as head of the Small Business Administration.