WASHINGTON (AP) — As the formulaic “pass the torch” drumbeat thumped on from lawmakers wanting him to quit the race, President Joe Biden maintained a brave face. Publicly, he vowed he was all in, until the day he got out.
But there were telling indications he was listening to that beat long before he ended his campaign for reelection. One sign was over a week ago, when Chuck Schumer visited his Delaware beach house as an emissary of gloom.
The Senate majority leader had spoken with Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, a few days earlier. He had heard from nearly every Democratic senator, pinging him over the last three weeks on his old-school flip phone.
He wasn’t speaking for all of them, but for many.
Think about what’s bound to happen to Democrats in Congress, Schumer implored the president. Think about the generations-long impact of a Supreme Court with Donald Trump in the White House. Think about your legacy.
“I need a week,” Biden said. The two men hugged.
That scene and those words were described by someone familiar with the conversation, who would only detail it on condition of anonymity. Other firsthand observers of Biden’s struggle to stay viable also described a privately contemplative president during his days of decision.
Some spoke on the record; others anonymously. Together, their accounts show a president who was determined to exhaust every avenue to keep his hopes alive, but ultimately not in denial about the prospects.
By the weekend, if not sooner, the gravity of it all reached a critical mass — the terrible polls, the precipitous drop in big-money donations, the sad voices of those he most respected and had worked with for decades.
One insider said Biden “began to come to a decision on Saturday evening,” in the company of four close advisers. Things moved quickly Sunday. Biden gave South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn early word he would be stepping aside, in what the congressman called a “very pleasant conversation.” He did not speak with Pelosi at the time.
In a hooded Howard University sweatshirt, workout sweats and sneakers, Vice President Kamala Harris held several conversations with Biden and as the day wore on, spent over 10 hours on the phone with more than 100 politicians and some activists. She knew she would get the huge boost of Biden’s endorsement, yet needed to be seen as earning the nomination in her own right.
At 1:45 p.m., after separate calls to Harris, chief of staff Jeff Zients and campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon, he was connected on the phone with a small group of other advisers.
One minute later, with the release of his letter on X, the world knew.
Democrats blanched in the first seconds of the June 27 debate with Trump. Low energy, hoarse, sometimes inaudible, Biden did not meet the moment as more than 50 million people watched.
He spoke of “making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with the COVID. Excuse me ... we finally beat Medicare.” It emerged later that he meant to claim that he had beaten the pharmaceutical industry, but many such points were lost in the fog.
Some outliers were already left thinking the unthinkable — Biden had to go. But it was still possible for many to believe Biden merely had a “bad night,” but only if he still could have the benefit of the doubt.
More fumbles over the following days all fed into the public’s suspicion, simmering over several years, that Biden was not fit for another term. The loyalist insiders kept insisting Biden was on his game. The vast nation of non-political outsiders saw through the pretense.
But as questions about Biden’s acuity rolled into the first weekend after the debate, most lawmakers’ phones — including those of the top rungs of congressional leadership — remained silent from the one person who could quell the unease: the president himself.
Even midway through the next week, Biden had not spoken with leading lawmakers, spreading frustration and panic through party ranks as many tried to relax at home and prepare for Independence Day celebrations.
apnews.com
But there were telling indications he was listening to that beat long before he ended his campaign for reelection. One sign was over a week ago, when Chuck Schumer visited his Delaware beach house as an emissary of gloom.
The Senate majority leader had spoken with Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, a few days earlier. He had heard from nearly every Democratic senator, pinging him over the last three weeks on his old-school flip phone.
He wasn’t speaking for all of them, but for many.
Think about what’s bound to happen to Democrats in Congress, Schumer implored the president. Think about the generations-long impact of a Supreme Court with Donald Trump in the White House. Think about your legacy.
“I need a week,” Biden said. The two men hugged.
That scene and those words were described by someone familiar with the conversation, who would only detail it on condition of anonymity. Other firsthand observers of Biden’s struggle to stay viable also described a privately contemplative president during his days of decision.
Some spoke on the record; others anonymously. Together, their accounts show a president who was determined to exhaust every avenue to keep his hopes alive, but ultimately not in denial about the prospects.
By the weekend, if not sooner, the gravity of it all reached a critical mass — the terrible polls, the precipitous drop in big-money donations, the sad voices of those he most respected and had worked with for decades.
One insider said Biden “began to come to a decision on Saturday evening,” in the company of four close advisers. Things moved quickly Sunday. Biden gave South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn early word he would be stepping aside, in what the congressman called a “very pleasant conversation.” He did not speak with Pelosi at the time.
In a hooded Howard University sweatshirt, workout sweats and sneakers, Vice President Kamala Harris held several conversations with Biden and as the day wore on, spent over 10 hours on the phone with more than 100 politicians and some activists. She knew she would get the huge boost of Biden’s endorsement, yet needed to be seen as earning the nomination in her own right.
At 1:45 p.m., after separate calls to Harris, chief of staff Jeff Zients and campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon, he was connected on the phone with a small group of other advisers.
One minute later, with the release of his letter on X, the world knew.
Democrats saw trouble from the first moment of the debate
Democrats blanched in the first seconds of the June 27 debate with Trump. Low energy, hoarse, sometimes inaudible, Biden did not meet the moment as more than 50 million people watched.
He spoke of “making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with the COVID. Excuse me ... we finally beat Medicare.” It emerged later that he meant to claim that he had beaten the pharmaceutical industry, but many such points were lost in the fog.
Some outliers were already left thinking the unthinkable — Biden had to go. But it was still possible for many to believe Biden merely had a “bad night,” but only if he still could have the benefit of the doubt.
More fumbles over the following days all fed into the public’s suspicion, simmering over several years, that Biden was not fit for another term. The loyalist insiders kept insisting Biden was on his game. The vast nation of non-political outsiders saw through the pretense.
But as questions about Biden’s acuity rolled into the first weekend after the debate, most lawmakers’ phones — including those of the top rungs of congressional leadership — remained silent from the one person who could quell the unease: the president himself.
Even midway through the next week, Biden had not spoken with leading lawmakers, spreading frustration and panic through party ranks as many tried to relax at home and prepare for Independence Day celebrations.
Biden passed that torch slowly, hanging on until the wheels finally came off
Insiders who were close to Joe Biden's struggles are describing a president who was dogged in his determination to keep his candidacy alive — but ultimately not in denial about the odds.
apnews.com
