Many top Biden officials believe he needs to quit in order to avoid becoming more lonely
The president Joe Biden is now more isolated than he’s ever in his life, with a number of senior-ranking White House and campaign officials currently expressing their belief that Biden must resign from his campaign for an additional term – and possibly soon.
By MJ Lee, Jeff Zeleny, Kayla Tausche, Jamie Gangel
Jul 19, 2024 12:50 AM
Washington CNN —
The president Joe Biden is more lonely than he’s previously been, with many high-ranking White House and campaign officials currently expressing their belief that he should drop his campaign to run for another term, and very soon.
“The next 72 hours are big,” one Democratic governor who is in close contact with party officials reported to the aides on Thursday. “This can’t go on much longer.”
Interviews with CNN more than two dozen people who are familiar with the inner workings of and around the West Wing and campaign said there is a general consensus that Biden staying in the race to 2024 is unsustainable.
“Everyone is saying it privately,” one senior Democrat stated. “People see and feel the walls closing in.”
Another high-ranking Democrat inside Biden’s White House described Biden as becoming “exceptionally insulated and isolated” after during the CNN president’s debate on the 27th of June. Many sources have said that Biden’s top advisers to Biden such as the adviser Anita Dunn, attorney Bob Bauer and campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon – faced the criticism of the family of President Trump after the debate.
This has been a result of increasing the size of Biden’s inner circle of advisers who have access to the president who were already notoriously small and inaccessible – even more restrictive.
Just three months after the defiant debate performance, which shocked his closest aides, colleagues as well as Democrats across the political spectrum and the country, only a tiny number of his aides who are loyal to him including his long-time advisors Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti as well as people from the Biden family have gotten involved together with President Obama. The tight circle of aides has alarmed a number of Democrats who are wondering if Biden receives accurate data regarding the state of his campaign.
The deputy White House chief of staff Annie Tomasini, a longtime adviser to the Bidens is now joined by Donilon as well as Ricchetti in creating an air-tight shield around President Biden. Anthony Bernal, chief of staff to Jill Biden, has grown even more powerful in the current crisis, and has shut down any sign of discontent According to two sources, he is telling any negative critics towards the president’s wife. One source within the circle of advisers stated that Tomasini is not involved in deciding who the president looks at and communicates with.
Ricchetti is more observant regarding the issues that lie ahead for Biden, two sources who are familiar with the dynamics inside the West Wing claimed, mostly because he’s the main representative for lawmakers looking to communicate their concerns at the head of state. In the midst of a flurry of speculation over Biden’s future West Wing advisors to Biden have told CNN Thursday night that they’ve been in no talks with themselves or with Biden regarding his decision to pull out of the race for president.
In response to inquiries about this report, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates stated that Biden was “proud of the well-rounded team he has built.”
“He has not made changes to the group of advisers he consults, who he trusts because they’ve demonstrated the integrity to tell the truth and keep the wellbeing of the American people front of mind,” Bates stated.
Campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said, “Here in the HQ we’re doing our best since when you’re running campaigns that are winning it is a lot of work. There’s a tremendous satisfaction in our office because we are aware of how vital and crucial the work that we do here will determine the future that our nation’s democracy.”
Multiple sources have also told CNN that President Trump’s latest reaction to polls that aren’t performing has been to doubt whether anyone else that could do better than him. While meetings and phone calls with people who could bring negative news seem to have been halted.
“The phones just kind of stopped ringing,” is the way one senior Democrat described it.
CNN earlier reported during a heated exchange between the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Biden within the past week or so when the two sides disagreed on polling data, Pelosi requested Donilon who was a former pollster who had worked for Biden, to join the call to discuss the information. A Pelosi spokesperson on Thursday said that she believed that the “feeding frenzy from the press based on anonymous sources misrepresents any conversations the speaker may have had with the president.”
“He does not want to hear from anyone. He’d like to speak with Mike Donilon and Steve,” one of the top Democrat inside the White House said.
A source within Biden’s inner circle claimed they Donilon as well as Ricchetti have been presenting a variety of opinions in the eyes of Biden and that Biden himself has been in direct contact with various official members of the party to get their views.
In a discussion with the top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, Biden vigorously disputed the idea that Jeffries colleagues were urging him to step down according to a source informed of the conversation.
Contrary to Capitol Hill, where Democratic lawmakers are slowly beginning to voice their grievances publicly So far twenty House Democrats have made public statements to urge Biden to quit the race – White House and campaign aides are forced to carry on with their daily tasks. While Biden and his aides to the campaign persist in their public statements that President Biden is not going anywhere and that Biden is not going anywhere, the atmosphere in many areas of the White House and campaign has been one of sadness.
“There is a lot of people who tell themselves – it is my job to do this,” one Democrat close to the White House said. “But privately, they feel differently.”
The deputy of Biden’s campaign manger Quentin Fulks on Thursday said Biden’s Biden campaign was “not working through any scenarios” that would suggest Biden isn’t the presidential candidate.
“Our campaign isn’t looking at any scenario in which the president Biden isn’t the highest of the list. He is and will continue to be the Democratic presidential candidate,” he said during an DNC press conference held in Milwaukee.
Biden’s utterly inept debate performance – as well as the decline of his presidential candidacy thereafter – has led to a flurry of anger inside within the White House, with plenty of snares aimed at the senior advisors. Officials in and out of the administration have quietly questioned the intentions of those in the president’s inner circle – and whether their choice to stay-the-course-at-all-costs stems from a fear of acknowledging they misread the situation or a desire to preserve their proximity to power.
“This decision is not just about Biden,” an former aide who been working with Biden for many years said to CNN. “There are other senior advisers who are considering whether they played the right role in this.”
The discontent with the advisers of the president has swept through every level in the White House as staff wrestles with the lack of information and making decisions about their own future professional prospects.
“Staff in general are just over the leadership here,” one White House official said.
A number of former officials from the administration have informed CNN that they have seen an increase in resumes that have been being handed to them in recent weeks, indicating that the former employees are beginning to search for a exit strategy in an industry that is private.
While Biden went in the shadows, recuperating from the Covid-19 incident at his beach residence in Delaware He is described by people who have talked to him as “receptive” to arguments to abandon his campaign for reelection, according to an experienced Democratic adviser said to CNN.
Biden is currently in the “contemplative stage” as he is confined to Rehoboth Beach. A person who is familiar with the president’s thinking said Biden was “thinking things through” and “deliberating” about how to continue his reelection campaign when he is in a secluded. He has acknowledged privately to a few others that there’s only one option considering all negative facts, the source claimed.
According to this source, Biden is unlikely to announce any kind of announcement prior to the weekend. The source warned that anyone who believes they are aware of the exact course Biden will actually do isn’t really in the know.
It’s a thorny issue – and a bit of a snare for a large portion of Democrats as to whether Biden has made any fresh decisions regarding his future. However, even if he did take the advice to step down and resign, a series of events could be put into motion and officials will need time to prepare.
In Biden’s White House, senior administration officials are anticipating Republicans to demand Biden to step down as president in the event that he does not run for to run for reelection. These arguments are among the many issues that have surrounded Biden’s decision.
Biden’s political future is at risk and it appears that the White House is fielding a constant flow of letters, phone messages, and phone calls from Americans and, in addition, Democratic voters such as Terri as well as John Hale.
“It’s with utmost respect that we offer this conclusion – you cannot win this race,” the Hales retired people who hail from Ankeny, Iowa, wrote in a letter addressed to the White House obtained by CNN. “Not because you are not the better man, but because the public – rightly or wrongly – now sees your age and perceived limitations as the main issue in the campaign.”
CNN’s Pamela Brown contributed to this report.