Despite weeks of crisis talks and dozens of Democrats calling for him to resign, Joe Biden’s decision Sunday to withdraw took America — and most White House staff and campaign aides — by surprise.
The 81-year-old president was isolating because of COVID at his $3.4 million vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, when his shrinking circle of friends handed him polls showing he could no longer beat Donald Trump after his disastrous performance at the debate three weeks ago and the poor handling of the aftermath, sources confirmed.
Then they finally convinced a reportedly angry Biden to draft a letter saying it was time to step aside for the sake of the Democratic Party. Donors poured in millions of dollars in pledged funds, and the list of elected Democrats calling on him to resign grew by the minute.
Jill Biden stood by her husband as he finally made the historic decision, bowing to mounting pressure. But a spokeswoman for the first lady said it was the president’s sole judgment, and confirmed he did it too late.
“Until the final hours of the decision that only he could make, she (Jill Biden) supported him in whatever path he chose,” the spokeswoman said. “She is his greatest believer, champion and always at his side, in that trusted way that only a wife of nearly 50 years can be.”
Here’s how a seemingly obvious conclusion somehow managed to stun the nation:
Jill Biden was with her husband Joe Biden in Rehoboth as he made his decision on the 2024 presidential election — above the couple at their beachfront home in February
On Saturday night, Biden called together two men who have been with him since his political inception: advisers Steve Ricchetti and Mike Donilon.
They were there for him through the best of times — his early years as a senator — and the worst of times — the death of his son Beau Biden in 2015.
The president and first lady were also accompanied by their closest aides Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal, whom they call “family.”
It was Ricchetti and Donilon who brought devastating new data that would push Biden to a decision.
They released the latest internal campaign polls, taken after the debate, which showed he could no longer beat Trump.
Biden’s decision was made shortly afterward, and he asked Ricchetti and Donilon to draft a letter and begin the process of how to make a public announcement, DailyMail.com confirmed. The president also began telling his family.
Biden had previously insisted he would only step aside if he was shown polls proving Kamala Harris would outperform him against Trump, or if he developed a “medical condition.” Ultimately, it was the first of those developments that sealed his fate.
Biden went to bed at the beach house on Saturday night knowing he would announce his surprise the next day.
On Sunday at 1:45 p.m., he began calling his White House staffers and the campaign.
By then, he had already told Harris and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
At 1:46 p.m., he posted a letter from the president to his campaign account announcing his decision, while he was still in talks with his staff.
Most of his aides — both in the White House and on the campaign trail — were shocked. They heard the news online and got the message when the @JoeBiden account posted the president’s letter.
“Nobody knew until the tweet went out,” a campaign official told DailyMail.com. “That to me is an insane way to treat the 1,300 people who work for you on the campaign.”
Presidential adviser Steve Ricchetti (left) and campaign adviser Mike Donilon (right) were called to Rehoboth Beach to help Biden write the letter about his decision
It was the cap to a chaotic 48 hours for the Biden family, who had hunkered down behind their patriarch with a small, intimate circle of longtime aides who supported them, some even reporting to Jill Biden about aides they saw as disloyal.
Meanwhile, Biden had gone from being angry about the pressure his party was exerting to accepting the situation.
And once he made his final decision on Saturday night, the rest happened quickly.
Biden called Harris directly to tell her the news.
He also reportedly had one-on-one meetings with White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon. He is also expected to speak with his cabinet, members of Congress, governors and supporters.
But it all happened so quickly that many employees felt hurt by the way they heard the news, even though they were not surprised by it.
It was already clear. Nearly 40 Democratic lawmakers had called on Biden to drop out of the race. Major donors threatened to withdraw their support. Actor George Clooney wrote an op-ed in the New York Times calling on Biden to resign. And Barack Obama was reportedly working behind the scenes to force Biden out.
It “had to happen,” said one Democratic consultant. “But he just dropped a bomb. It’s not surprising, but it’s shocking.”
Another worker said people felt “a mix of relief, gratitude and hope.”
The campaign held a meeting at 5pm with all employees required to attend to reassure staff that they still had their jobs.
Campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon acknowledged that it was “difficult for staff who heard the news while they were on the job or knocking on doors, but it was important for the president to hear it in his own words.”
President Joe Biden walks with, from left, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed and White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt in April
Anthony Bernal, senior adviser to Jill Biden, and Annie Tomasini, deputy chief of staff, are leaving the White House together in February — he leads the East Wing; she leads the West Wing
Publicly, his advisers are loyal to Biden.
Many have taken to television and social media to defend the president since his disastrous performance in the debate against Donald Trump 24 days ago, claiming that Biden is the party’s nominee and that he plans to retain that nominee.
Since the June 26 debate, staff have tried to continue with their daily work and resisted reports that Biden would withdraw.
According to ‘Fanfiction,’ deputy spokesman Andrew Bates advised Democrats to “keep the faith” following reports that Biden would withdraw this weekend.
Even on Sunday morning, the campaign message was that Biden was doing everything he could to win.
Campaign chairman Cedric Richmond said Sunday morning on CBS’s Face the Nation: “I want to be crystal clear. He’s made a decision and that decision is to accept the nomination and run for re-election.”
Officials defended the manner in which the decision was announced.
According to a White House official, it was done at the “last minute.”
The decision was actually made in the last 24 hours, and only Biden’s family and a small circle of close aides knew about his decision.
And by keeping it from senior staff until the last minute — and not telling junior staff at all — the news didn’t leak. It came out on Biden’s terms.
It all fits the picture of a man frustrated by what he saw as a public pressure campaign to force him into action.
Biden has been in physical and political isolation for the past four days.
He is at his beach house in Delaware, on the Atlantic Ocean, recovering from COVID, still coughing and hoarse from the virus. First lady Jill Biden has been with him, though she is in a separate room.
Since then, the president has watched one Democrat after another call for his resignation, while he has spent the past three weeks trying to reassure the party that he is mentally and physically ready for a second term.
But despite everything he has done — national television interviews, local radio interviews, a press conference and campaign stops — nothing has turned the tide against him.
Joe Biden endorsed Kamala Harris
Hunter Biden, Melissa Cohen, Joe Biden and Jill Biden in July – his family has supported him
After the decision, Biden’s family was loud and clear in their love and support, in which he praised him for his services to the country.
Jill Biden sent him her love on Sunday afternoon by retweeting his letter with two red hearts.
Naomi Biden, the Bidens’ eldest granddaughter, wrote a lengthy message on X, saying she was “proud” of her “daddy,” as the grandchildren call President Biden.
She noted, “Our world is better today in so many ways because of him. To the Americans who have always relied on him, keep the faith. He will always rely on us.”
And Hunter Biden, in a statement from his father, said: ‘He is unique in public life today in that there is no distance between Joe Biden the man and Joe Biden the public servant of the past 54 years. I am so fortunate that I get to tell him every night that I love him and thank him. I ask all Americans to join me tonight in doing the same.’
“Thank you, Mr. President. I love you, Dad.”
