A new bombshell report has exposed the intricate behind-the-scenes maneuvering that led to Joe Biden stepping down from the 2024 presidential race. While many assumed the tipping point was Biden’s poor performance during the June CNN debate against Donald Trump, it turns out that the groundwork to push Biden aside had been laid long before.
From the start, there was little enthusiasm among Democrats for Biden to seek a second term. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer faced the task of persuading the president to step aside. Schumer’s challenge became urgent after Biden’s disastrous showing in the debate and his subsequent “COVID diagnosis” during a Nevada campaign stop, both of which exacerbated concerns about his fitness for office. Biden’s frequent moments of forgetfulness and erratic behavior had already raised red flags, and by this point, the report reveals that Democratic senators were nearly unanimous in their opposition to his re-election bid. In fact, Schumer privately estimated that only five senators would support Biden staying on the ticket, and Biden’s campaign didn’t think he had much of a shot, either.
“If there were a secret ballot among Democratic senators, Mr. Schumer would tell the president, no more than five would say he should continue running,” the New York Times explains. “Mr. Biden’s own pollsters assessed that he had about a 5 percent chance of prevailing against Donald J. Trump, Mr. Schumer would tell him — information that was apparently news to the president. And if the president refused to step aside, the senator would argue, the consequences for Democrats and Mr. Biden’s own legacy after a half-century of public service would be catastrophic.”
The tipping point came as other prominent Democrats began taking action. Rep. Jamie Raskin privately urged Biden not to run, though he eventually went public after being ignored. Behind the scenes, former President Barack Obama played a pivotal role, counseling Biden to step down without taking a visible role in the effort. Meanwhile, Biden’s humiliating NATO press conference underscored his inability to address mounting concerns about his competence.
According to the report, the breaking point for Biden came during a candid meeting with Schumer at the president’s Rehoboth Beach home. Schumer laid out the brutal truth: Biden’s re-election bid lacked support, his poll numbers were catastrophic, and his ability to defeat Trump was in serious doubt.
“If you run and you lose to Trump, and we lose the Senate, and we don’t get back the House, that 50 years of amazing, beautiful work goes out the window,” Schumer told him. “But worse — you go down in American history as one of the darkest figures.”
Schumer added, “If I were you, I wouldn’t run, and I’m urging you not to run.”
Democrats spent years dismissing concerns over Mr. Biden’s age and mental fitness for the presidency, and ultimately spearheaded the effort to pressure him into stepping aside. Amusingly, the story makes clear that Schumer’s concern wasn’t over Biden’s ability to do the job.
For months, Mr. Schumer had been concerned that Mr. Biden was going to lose to Mr. Trump and cost Democrats Congress. It wasn’t that he thought Mr. Biden was not capable of the job. During their weekly conversations, the president often rambled, but he had always rambled. Once in a while, Mr. Biden would forget why he had called, but Mr. Schumer thought little of it. He was convinced that Mr. Biden could handle the job.
According to the story, Republican attacks about Biden being old and senile were just too much to overcome—even though the mainstream media was rabidly pushing the Democratic Party line. “Long before the president’s disastrous debate performance, Mr. Schumer had privately concluded that the barrier of Mr. Biden’s age was too much for him to overcome,” the report says.
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The debate wound up being “a gift” in the eyes of Chuck Schumer, because it became “a forcing mechanism to start an overdue discussion about the president’s political viability.”
As concerns mounted over President Biden’s ability to continue his campaign, Biden continued to refuse to step aside, sending a defiant letter on July 8 declaring his intention to stay in the race, angering congressional Democrats. At a tense July 11 meeting, frustrated senators demanded proof of Biden’s fitness, with some warning their silence would soon end.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island told Mr. Biden’s aides that the silence from the majority of Democratic senators should not be interpreted as a sign of support. It was out of respect and affection to allow Mr. Biden time to gracefully exit the race, but it would not last forever, he said, because if they continued to vouch for his fitness, they would be “lying.”.
As support from the caucus was crumbling, Schumer ultimately was the one who went to Biden’s beach house to “deliver his own blunt message.”
Mr. Schumer said if he had even a 50 percent chance of winning, he would probably keep going. “Fifty-fifty, to do this, to stay here; it’s worth it,” he said. “But, Mr. President, you’re not getting the information as to what the chances are.”
When he asked whether Mr. Biden had talked to his pollsters about his chances of winning the race, the president shook his head.
“Well, I have talked to them,” Mr. Schumer said. “My guess is you have about a 5 percent chance. None of your pollsters disagree with me.”
Only twice did Mr. Biden interrupt to ask a question, and both times it was: “Do you really think Kamala can win?”
Mr. Schumer said that he didn’t know, but that she had a far better chance than Mr. Biden did. (Mr. Biden has since made it clear that he disagrees. In an interview with USA Today, the president said of whether he could have defeated Mr. Trump: “It’s presumptuous to say that, but I think yes.”)
[…]
At the time, Mr. Biden revealed little of his own thinking, but he did not argue, and he did not shout.
“I need a week,” was all he said.
The report claims that when Schumer returned to his car, he “broke down in tears as he recounted the meeting to his aides.”
He’ll probably get nominated for an Oscar for his performance.
This revelation comes nearly two weeks after Schumer claimed on NBC’s "Meet the Press” that Biden stepped down “on his own because he thought it was better not only for the Democratic Party, for America.”
In the end, no matter what, it’s clear Democrats knew well before the debate that Biden couldn’t win, and they knew a huge part of that was because of concerns about his age and mental health. They can pretend all they want that he was capable of doing the job, but the plot to oust Biden makes it clear they never really believed that.
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