Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) has brought in a veteran crisis communicator to handle public scrutiny over his ties to disgraced former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and any future dealings with the Senate Ethics Committee.
The communicator in question is Andrew Bates, who most recently handled crisis communications for former President Joe Biden as he weathered the final days of his ill-fated 2024 re-election campaign and the end of his term in the White House.
According to a report published Tuesday by Axios, some in Gallego’s camp feel they’re being sidelined to make room for the Biden alum.
“Senator Gallego has been clear that he plans to help Democrats take the majority in 2026 and is weighing all options for his political future. He has brought on Andrew to help navigate those processes,” a spokesperson for Gallego told the outlet.
What Gallego’s team did not say was that the senator has been under increased scrutiny since several women came forward with accusations of sexual misconduct and even rape against Swalwell. Gallego has repeatedly claimed that he had no knowledge of Swalwell’s alleged behavior — despite the fact that the former California congressman was a longtime close friend and former roommate.
An experienced crisis communicator may be necessary if Gallego is to survive the fallout — and Bates’ work for the Biden White House certainly speaks to that.
When even the Democratic leaders in Congress — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), among others — were approaching the White House and calling for Biden to bow out of the 2024 race, Bates was telling reporters that it wasn’t going to happen.
“The president told both leaders he is the nominee of the party, he plans to win and looks forward to working with both of them to pass his 100-days agenda to help working families,” Bates said, just a few days before Biden announced that he would not continue his presidential re-election campaign.
On July 18, Bates posted an ABC News article citing an unnamed White House official who declared Biden’s plan to remain in the race.
“Flatly denied reports that the president is now more open to the idea of ending his campaign.
‘Anyone who has talked to Joe Biden in the last 24 hours can tell you that is not true,’ [said] the senior White House official, who has spoken to Biden today”https://t.co/oCbBCvfciW
— Andrew Bates (@AndrewBatesNC) July 18, 2024
“Keep the faith,” Bates posted on July 20 — along with an article about Biden’s plans to hit the campaign trail in the coming days.
Keep the faith.
“1 big thing: Biden digs in”
“Biden officials are telling Democratic critics that President Biden is eager to prove them wrong — and plans to hit the campaign trail once he recovers from COVID” https://t.co/fIrxXSsrXv
— Andrew Bates (@AndrewBatesNC) July 20, 2024
Just over 24 hours later, Biden would exit the race.
And by late February of 2025, Bates — who had defended Biden to the final hours of both his campaign and his presidency — was on MS NOW claiming that President Donald Trump might not have the “energy” to do the job well.
.@FoxNews: “Former Biden spokesperson suggests Trump might not have the ‘energy’ to do the job, ‘desperate to show that he’s in charge'” https://t.co/ML0U5uB91v
— Andrew Bates (@AndrewBatesNC) February 23, 2025
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