2024-07-22 15:50:52
As late as Saturday, the president’s aides were putting together a campaign schedule that would see him resume campaigning after he returns to the White House next week. He has recovered from the coronavirus at his beach house on the east coast of Delaware, insisting he is still running but furious that a coordinated effort by some Democrats to pressure him to withdraw has become public, the BBC reports.
By Sunday morning, the president had changed his mind, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak candidly about how the day unfolded.
On Saturday night, Mr. Biden began to consider whether he should step down, one of the most difficult decisions of his 50-year political career. He sat down with a small circle of aides, including one of his closest advisers, Steve Richetti, chief strategist Mike Donilon, deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini and first lady Jill Biden’s chief of staff, Anthony Bernal.
Richetti, who has been a close adviser to the president since his days in the Senate, went to the president’s beach house on Friday. Another aide who played an important role in making some of the president’s most important political decisions, M. Donilon, joined on Saturday. Mr. Biden and his aides delved into new polling data and discussed whether he could beat Mr. Trump in the current political climate.
Faced with the new data and bracing for another week of growing public calls for him to step down within the party, the president had a decision to make. He worked with Mr. Donilon on the historic statement that would end the candidacy, while Ms. Richetti handled the details of distributing the message and informing other employees.
Mr. Biden made the final decision to withdraw from the candidacy Sunday morning, calling separately to Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, his campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and Vice President Kamala Harris to inform them of this, sources familiar with Sunday’s developments said.
Sunday afternoon, 1 p.m. 45 minutes local time (7:45 p.m. Lithuania time), the US president held a video call with his top White House and campaign staff, including Anita Dunn, who heads his White House communications strategy. A minute later, he issued a public statement that sent shockwaves through the American political landscape and upended the 2024 race. elections.
“He said he had been thinking about it for the last couple of days,” a senior White House official told the BBC. “It was a carefully considered decision.”
Although Mr. Biden did not mention Harris in his initial statement, about half an hour later he tweeted his support for his vice president. The two spoke repeatedly that day in preparation for the stunning announcement, according to two sources familiar with the conversations. The first lady, who is the president’s closest adviser and the person whose advice is seen as one of the deciding factors in his decision, said in a statement that she supported his departure.
“Right up until the last hour, when he could make a decision, she was supportive of whatever path he chose,” Elizabeth Alexander, the first lady’s communications director, said of Mr. Biden. “She is his greatest supporter, protector and always by his side, as reliable as only a spouse who has lived with him for almost 50 years can be.”
Many members of the White House and the election campaign were not informed in advance of Mr. Biden’s plans. Most found out from a message on social media.
The president’s chief of staff, Mr. Zients, held an interview with White House officials and sent an email to a wider circle of West Wing employees to confirm the announcement and thank them for their hard work. He also led the conversation with the secretaries of the president’s office.
Meanwhile, Mr. Biden spoke with several congressional Democrats, governors and supporters, the White House said in a statement. He planned to continue the calls Sunday night and Monday, the statement said.
Harris, who has said she plans to “earn and win” the presidential nomination, spent Sunday afternoon calling lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, key party officials and governors to drum up support for her candidacy.
Although she has already earned the support of the president and top Democrats, her rise to the top spot is not guaranteed until delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August confirm Mr. Biden’s successor.
It should be noted that former US President Barack Obama did not clearly support her candidacy, while Bill and Hillary Clinton supported her.
On Sunday afternoon, as many were still digesting the news, top campaign officials said the team would support the vice president “full-throatedly.”
“All of you, all of us, wherever we come from, we’re here for Joe Biden and Kamala Harry and to defeat Donald Trump. And while today is a big day of transition, nothing changes about why you came here and what we’re all here for,” campaign chairwoman Ms. O’Malley Dillon said, according to a source familiar with the conversation.
“But the way forward is one that we all have to walk together,” she added.
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2024-07-22 15:50:52