Off The Record

Biden’s Family Begins To Talk About His Potential Withdrawal From The 2024 Race

Published on July 21, 2024

Family members of President Joe Biden have talked about possible ways to end his candidacy, according to two individuals with knowledge of the conversations.

Overall, these people said, the talks have been about how any exit strategy should position the party to defeat former President Donald Trump while also being commensurate with the more than five decades that Biden has served the nation in elected office, should he choose to do so, as some of his closest allies now feel he will.

Family members of Biden have explicitly talked about how he would want to withdraw from the race for reelection at his own discretion and with a well thought-out strategy in place. The individuals with knowledge of the discussions stated that the campaign’s effects on his family, health, and national stability are among the main topics of conversation.

It is an incredible revelation that Biden is thinking about leaving the party, let alone that his family is plotting an escape, given that he has consistently declared he would not give up his position as the party’s presumed nominee.

However, after a disastrous debate three weeks ago, worries have grown among party leaders, funders, and even officials involved in his reelection campaign with each passing day. Democrats are also observing Republicans unite behind Trump, who just this Thursday night accepted his party’s nomination after escaping an attempted murder.

Andrew Bates, the White House spokesperson, refuted reports that the family is having such exit talks.

He declared, “That is not happening, period. The individuals making those claims are not speaking for his family or his team — and they will be proven wrong. Keep the faith.”

Speaking on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Friday, Biden’s campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, claimed that while there has been some “slippage,” there has only been “a small movement” and that Biden is “absolutely” still in the race.

In an interview, Biden’s longtime advisor and former White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, stated that he is aware of both public and private requests for him to withdraw from the race.

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“I think he’s feeling the pressure,” said Klain, who has spoken to Biden recently. “I want him to stay in.”

According to Klain, it is illogical to disregard Biden. He claimed that certain members of his party undervalue the fact that Biden is the only person to have defeated Trump and underestimate him at their own risk.

Attempts to get rid of Biden have betrayed him and those closest to him, which they consider dishonest and impolite. Because of the way that people they thought were friends have treated the president, the family is inconsolable and going through phases of grief and rage.

An ally of Biden stated, “There was a much more dignified way to do this if this is what they wanted. This is no way to treat a public servant who has done a lot for this country.”

According to a source close to the reelection campaign, senior staff members have also engaged in discussions over how to devise a suitable plan for Biden to step down, in addition to the president’s family. Bates disputed the existence of these conversations as well.

First wife Jill Biden, her son Hunter, and his sister Valerie Owens, along with a few close aides who have been with him for a long time, have been the main sources of support for Biden during these debates.

After testing positive for COVID on Wednesday, Biden was placed on leave and has been the subject of heated discussions on his political future while he remains at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, home.

Per a person familiar with the calls, several of Biden’s closest staffers were phoning reliable allies on Thursday to gauge their perception of the senator’s political standing.

At this point, a Democratic lawmaker called Biden “reflective.” According to a third source close to Biden, the president is “fighting for his life” in politics.

Some allies are beginning to anticipate that, should Biden leave, it might happen soon. However, they also advise him to remember that he still has the final say and that he is not predisposed to give up even in the face of overwhelming difficulty.

About the possibility any announcement is imminent, a person close to the Bidens said, “We don’t even know what we’re doing tomorrow.”

Biden has said since the debate that he might think about withdrawing from the race if there was no way for him to win, but he is still sensitive to the increasing pressure from his own party.

“I think it’s inevitable,” a second person close to the re-election effort said of Biden’s withdrawing from the race.

As NBC News and other sources reported that Biden had exhibited some signs of easing off on his determination to stay the nominee, rumors and reports started to circulate, some of which the president’s aides categorically refuted. Among these were conjectures on the possible departure date, if Biden would support Vice President Kamala Harris right away, and who was considered to be her vice presidential running mate.

One of the rumors was that veteran historian and wordsmith Jon Meacham was writing Biden’s farewell address.

Meacham dismissed the story.

He declared, “The report is totally false.”

Democratic strategists claim that throughout the chaos, the Biden team distributed talking points to Democrats, saying things like, “President Biden has not spoken to congressional leadership today. The president is his party’s nominee, having won 14 million votes during the Democratic primary. He’s running for re-election, and that will not change until he wins re-election.”

This week, Biden kept in touch with supporters to find out how they felt, despite the fact that many in his own party were turning against him.

“With all the rumors that I’m leaving, I’m not,” Biden told Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader and MSNBC host, in a phone call Monday.

“I will support whatever you decide,” Sharpton told the president.

Sharpton said in an interview Thursday that legacy is something Biden “has to think of” as he contemplates his political future. “If there’s anyone that could make a comeback, it’s Joe Biden. Whether he chooses to or not, I don’t know.”

Some in Biden’s team believed he would be able to withstand the deluge of calls for him to step down, believing that the nation’s attention would be diverted from discussing whether and when he may abandon his campaign by news events like the Republican National Convention. However, the attempted assassination of Trump on Saturday did not lessen the agitation surrounding Biden. Democrats have, if anything, increased their pressure since then.

Democrats’ concern that Biden’s candidacy may deny them the opportunity to seize control of the House as well as the Senate and the White House is a significant contributing element to the pressure they are putting on him in private. This clarifies why prominent politicians have urged Biden to reevaluate his choice to continue running for office.

“The House is on the brink,” said Brian Wolff, the treasurer of the House Majority PAC, the main super PAC supporting House Democratic candidates. “These candidates don’t deserve that.”

According to Wolff, while Biden weighs his options, Democratic incumbents and challengers in competitive races cannot take the chance of fracturing their own voter coalitions by openly supporting one candidate over another.

He declared, “They can’t afford to alienate the base that wants to support Biden or the base that wants someone else.”