Re: Biden Drops Out of 2024 Presidential Race
Kyle Becker
@kylenabecker
Let's recap this historic day:
• Joe Biden suddenly *RESIGNS* via
@X
• White House staff find out ONE MINUTE later
• Joe Biden "resignation" letter not on official letterhead
• Biden "signature" suspect (underlined?)
• Steve Richetti helped write letter
• Jill Biden tweets *heart emoji* response
• White House *WIPES* Biden's schedule
• WH Chief of Staff calls Cabinet, manages Comms
• Frank Biden confirms health a factor
• Family suggests Biden may have terminal illness
• Joe Biden holds no LIVE Press Conference
• Where is Joe?
Just another perfectly normal day in Biden's America.
https://x.com/kylenabecker/status/1815243414545264774
Kyle Becker
@kylenabecker
Lots of good nuggets in the full Politico report:
- Steve Richetti & Mike Donilon were the "political hatchetmen" who delivered the message
- Allegedly, they pushed Biden out by telling him the polling data was bleak
- Joe Biden was with Jill Biden & two aides when he made the decision: Deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini and assistant to the first lady Anthony Bernal
- On Capitol Hill, Democratic leadership sensed Biden’s decision was coming
- “He got the message,” said one House Democrat. “It was from Chuck, Hakeem, Pelosi.”
- Over three days late last week, Biden spoke privately with Pelosi, Jeffries and Schumer
- Pelosi & Schumer both leaked messages they wanted Joe to step aside
- Those leaks coincided with a Washington Post report that former President Barack Obama was also expressing concerns
- The president’s family, and a number of long-tenured aides, had been dead set against him dropping out
- Jill Biden and son Hunter Biden in particular seethed against the top Democrats
- The family — including sister Valerie — became more concerned about toll the race would take on the president’s health
- Biden’s slow recovery from Covid underscored concerns he would not be up for campaign
- Chief of staff Jeff Zients and senior adviser Anita Dunn had recently expressed privately that the party might need to go in a new direction
- On Saturday night, some in Biden’s inner circle insisted to one high-level Democrat that the president was determined to stay in the race
- There was "a lot of crying" on the staff