On Thursday, word was that Joe Biden had accepted his fate and would drop out of the race over the weekend. That appears to no longer be the case. Those rumors were forcefully denied, and it appears they were leaks merely designed to impose more pressure on Joe Biden.
But, a new rumor has emerged that, I have to say, is quite compelling.
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According to a report from the New York Times, Joe Biden is considering stepping down from the 2024 presidential race, but not until after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming speech to Congress. The paper reports that Biden’s aides believe he won’t give Netanyahu the satisfaction of announcing his withdrawal before the speech, given their strained relationship over the Gaza conflict.
While Mr. Biden and his team publicly insist that he is staying in the race, privately people close to him have said that he is increasingly accepting that he may not be able to, and some have begun discussing dates and venues for a possible announcement that he is stepping aside.
One factor that may stretch out a decision: Advisers believe that Mr. Biden would not want to do it before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel visits Washington on Wednesday at the initiative of Republicans to address Congress, unwilling to give the premier the satisfaction given their strained relations lately over the Gaza war.
Yet Mr. Biden bristles at pressure and those pushing him risk getting his back up and prompting him to remain after all. Two people familiar with his thinking said he had not changed his mind as of Friday afternoon.
If there’s anything that all reports—even the ones based on erroneous leaks—appear to point to it is that Biden is feeling the pressure. As we’ve previously reported, he’s quite angry about it, too. It seems like those who were anticipating a huge announcement this weekend will be disappointed, but I can’t help but feel that if Biden makes it past this weekend, and through Wednesday, he’ll continue to find ways to wait out the clock until the virtual roll call officially makes him the nominee.
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From where I sit, as someone who has been covering the Biden presidency, Biden fancies himself the most successful Democrat president in history and has too much pride to simply walk away. But, he’s also been under the delusion that the party at large cares about him. In 2008, when he ran for president, he polled in single digits. He owes his post-Senate career entirely to Barack Obama, and his key accomplishments as president are basically continuations of Obama-era policies. As we've seen from White House events over the past few years, Joe Biden doesn't have the star power that his former boss, Barack Obama, has. In the end, he's just another old white guy in a political party that really doesn't care for old white men anymore. And frankly, Biden has done so much damage to the party that key Democrat-leaning constituencies have been flocking to Trump or third-party candidates.
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