President Biden’s liaison to black voters announces departure from White House

Biden’s liaison for black voters has announced that he will leave his position at The White House to take up a role as a partner in law firm Barnes & Thornburg’s Washington office.

Barnes & Thornburg said Baker will bring “a fresh perspective on community and government relations” to its practice.

Before working for the Biden administration, Baker worked for 3 years as the city manager of Mississippi and was also on the books of Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss) as a legislative assistant and counsel.

“He’s probably got the best Rolodex in the country when it comes to Black movers and shakers,” Thompson during an interview. “He’s a go-to guy for a lot of issues for Black people and Democrats in this country.”

The Biden administration said that Trey Baker was instrumental in engaging with black voters and helping them connect to the ideas of the Biden administration.

“He had to handle some hot potatoes,” civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton said in a telephone interview. “Trey was the real connection between civil-rights leadership, the White House and the campaign.”

Baker was credited with keeping a consistent dialogue going between the White House and the black community, including when tensions were high, such as the murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery.

“Many of us, our policies were a lot more progressive than” Biden’s were, Sharpton said, adding that Baker would help gravitate groups toward achievable goals.

Melanie Campbell, who is both president and chief executive officer of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, stated that Baker fully understood that civil rights groups didn’t just represent an “extension of the administration” as there were times when they were both allies and also times when the relationship could be frosty.

Baker’s departure comes not long before November’s terms, where Biden will be aiming to keep control of the House and the Senate.