Despite the media narrative that Joe Biden did the honorable and patriotic thing by dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, he has since confirmed that Democrats forced him out, and he isn't happy about it. What is he going to do about it? Is he just going to sit back and accept it? I'm not so sure that he will, and I expect Biden will get his revenge.
"President Joe Biden is frustrated that Barack Obama wouldn’t tell him to his face that he should leave the race. He’s angry with Nancy Pelosi and views her as ruthless for ushering him out the door. And he’s still miffed at the role Chuck Schumer played, too," reports Politico.
"Biden has told his closest aides and associates that he is coming to terms with his decision to bow out of the presidential race last month, but still harbors some frustration toward the members of his own party he believes pushed him out, according to three people familiar with Biden’s thinking who are not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations," Politico added.
Pelosi has been at the forefront of late, as the former speaker is on an extensive book tour and has been publicly explaining her part in nudging Biden off the top of the ticket. The president is still smarting but has told people in recent days that he grudgingly respects Pelosi’s actions.
“She did what she had to do” in order to give Democrats the best chance to win in November, Biden told one of the people, adding that Pelosi “cares about the party,” not about feelings.
Last month, sources close to Biden claimed that his endorsement of Kamala shortly after the letter announcing his withdrawal from the race on X was his revenge on the party that forced him out because the key players involved in his ouster wanted to hold a mini-primary rather than sticking with Kamala — whom many believe won't win in November.
A separate report indicated that Democrats threatened Biden with invoking the 25th Amendment to force him out.
"Obama called Biden after breakfast and said, 'Here's the deal. We have Kamala's approval to invoke the 25th Amendment," veteran Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh reported last month.
Let's recap what we know.
- Biden has long held the position that he was the only Democrat who could beat Trump.
- Harris was reportedly on board with invoking the 25th Amendment.
- Democrats wanted an open process to select a new candidate.
- Biden’s desire for revenge drove his endorsement of Harris.
- Biden still feels betrayed over his ouster.
Considering all of this, do you think Biden will ever let go of his sense of betrayal? I doubt it. According to more recent reports, he's still been nursing the wound of the party passing him over for Hillary Clinton in 2016, believing that he could have beaten Trump that year.
I've also never believed that Biden wanted Kamala on his ticket in the first place since her most notable moment during her brief 2020 primary campaign was when she all but called him a racist. And even before Biden announced his candidacy, Kamala expressed support for the women who accused him of sexual misconduct, saying, “I believe them and I respect them being able to tell their story and having the courage to do it.” Then, after they took office, he practically set her up to fail.
The next question is whether Biden honestly thinks Kamala can win. Do you think he wants her to? Biden has long maintained that he was (and still is) the only Democrat who can beat Trump. I don't doubt that it would be extremely gratifying for him to tell Pelosi, Schumer, and Obama, "If you'd have stuck with me, I'd have beaten him," if Trump beats Kamala.
If we start getting some damaging leaks after the convention about Kamala's performance in the White House, we'll know that Biden loyalists are trying to thwart her bid.
Could you blame him?
