President Joe Biden debated former President Donald Trump on June 27, 2024. Biden’s dull performance led to increased calls to abandon the elections.
Images Andrew Harnik / Getty North America
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Images Andrew Harnik / Getty North America
Five months after the 2024 elections, some Democrats are still wondering: why didn’t President Biden end his re-election campaign earlier? Why did he present a re-election knowing that he was 82 when he started his second term, and 86 when he ended?
In his new book, Uncharted: How Trump beat Biden, Harris and the chances of the wildest countryside in historyAuthor Chris Whipple maintains that Biden’s family and the closest advisers have operated in an “illusion and denial fog” with regard to his ability to serve another term.
Whipple had his own reasons to wonder if the Biden staff protected the president of the exam. He notes that when he worked a previous book, which detailed the first two years of the Biden administration, Whipple asked for an interview with the president and he was told that he could send questions by email and receive written answers in response.
“Obviously, they were uncomfortable even then with the prospect that the president had an interview in real time with a journalist,” explains Whipple. “There is therefore no doubt that they were protecting the president, they minimized his contact with others.”
While the 2024 campaign started, the president could not hide from the public exam, said Whipple. He noted that in the days before his disastrous debate with President Trump, Biden “was in a terrible state”.
“He was absolutely exhausted. He couldn’t really follow what was going on in the countryside. He was settled,” said Whipple. “At the beginning, he came out of a session (preparation of the debate) in the Aspen Lodge, the president’s cabin, went to the pool, rushed into a lounge chair and simply fell asleep.”
The debate marked a turning point in Biden’s re -election campaign – less than a month later, Biden abandoned the race and approved the president of the time, Kamala Harris. Harris would later lose the general elections to President Trump.
Whipple sees parallels between the twists and turns of the Biden re -election campaign and a Shakespearean tragedy.
“I think it is indisputable that there is just an abdication of leadership starting in this inner circle,” he said. “The inability of one of these (employees) to sit the president and to say:” Listen, you have to look at this clear look and realize that you will be 86 years old and you are not up to par and everyone knows it. “It never happened.”
Strengths of the interview
Uncharted: How Trump beat Biden, Harris and the chances of the craziest campaign in history, by Chris Whipple
Harper Collins
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Harper Collins
On the reasons why Biden’s staff thought he could still govern
I think it’s much more interesting and not as simple than the concept of concealment. In other words, I am convinced that the inner circle of Joe Biden was convinced that Joe Biden was able to govern, and they thought he could do it for another four years. And we cannot reject the fact that Biden on the very last day, on July 21, this Sunday, when his collaborators came to hammer his declaration of abdication, Joe Biden was on the phone canceling the details of an exchange of complex multi-noble prisoners. He was above every detail.
The people who visited Biden in the oval office to speak of the Middle East said it was above all the nuances of the Middle East policy. … Joe Biden, behind closed doors, ruled, capable, whether or not you love its policies. There is therefore no doubt that he was the shadow of the activist that he was in the past, and it was true from 2020 to the end. But, you cannot reject the fact – it is an embarrassing fact for people who say it was a concealment – that Biden was capable.
On the relationship of Biden and Obama
The whole relationship between Joe Biden and Barack Obama is so complex and fascinating and with so many levels. I mean, on the one hand, there is no doubt that they have really linked to the tragic death of Bo Biden. And Barack Obama took Joe Biden under his wing, and they developed proximity. But at the same time, there is real competitiveness between them. And the Obama camp, for example, was not amused when Biden employees performed at the start of his first mandate and talked about how the American rescue plan was so much larger than the Obama stimulus package in 2009. They are just competitive, these two camps. The other major factor here is that Joe Biden has never forgiven Barack Obama for putting his thumb up to scale so that Hillary Clinton became the candidate in 2016. It was a really deep injury for Joe Biden.
And in the end, it has become clear that during this fateful weekend From July 20 to 21, that Barack Obama was not really there. He was just not there for Joe Biden. One of the closest friends of Biden told me that the thing that really got him was that Obama never won the phone and called him and just said: “You know Joe, Geez, are you sure you are up to it?” It never happened. There was a phone call earlier after the debate saying: “Hey, it was just a bad night. Don’t worry.” But when things became south and Biden was on the ropes, Barack Obama never won the phone.
On Kamala Harris sets up a “stealth campaign” before Biden officially abandoned
Before this weekend, when Biden made his decision, to the point, Harris had to be absolutely scrupulous. She was walking in a minefield. I mean, she had to do if be careful not to give a clue that she was planning to take over the ticket. But the truth was that she was preparing herself quietly and secretly. His camp had contacted democratic political agents who watched the rules and were preparing and ensured that if this day came, when this day came, I think they thought she would be ready to leave. And of course, it was. But not only did these agents looked at the rules and discovered how she could grasp the appointment, but they also put the word to certain senators that they had to go out in favor of Joe Biden Discarding. And so there was a campaign, a stealth campaign in progress before this Sunday.
On Harris’ inability to differentiate himself from Biden
She had to be prepared for the question of $ 64,000, what they knew how to happen, and it was: what would you do differently from Joe Biden? And when this day arrived, when Kamala Harris appeared in the ABC program, The viewIt was a disaster. She groped the answer. … Inexplicably, she said: “Well, I can’t think of only one thing,” was the way she started the answer. This was immediately transformed into a campaign advertisement by the Trump team, which was devastating. And it was a real turning point in the countryside. … She was prepared, but she couldn’t answer the question. And I think the reason is that fundamentally, Kamala Harris was faithful to Joe Biden.
One of the ironies here is that its senior campaign officials, Jen O’malley-Dillon and Lorraine Vales, had gone to the White House and had specifically seated with Jeff Zients, the chief of staff of Joe Biden, and in fact asked for permission to separate from Biden. And Zients said to them, go for it. Do everything you have to do. Not only that, Joe Biden personally called Kamala Harris and said, look, I understand. You have to win this campaign and don’t worry to hurt my feelings, in fact, not in these words. It is fascinating for me that even then she could not take this break.
Sam Briger and Anna Bauman produced and published this interview for Broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Dana Farrington adapted it for the web.
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