As Biden spoke on that call, a letter announcing his intentions was posted online. The chief of staff then held Zoom calls for the Cabinet and White House aides.
“There is still so much to do – and as President Biden says, ‘there is nothing America can’t do – when we do it together,’” Zients wrote to the entire White House team at 2:26 p.m.
There were whispers that it was coming. But until it happened, many people working for the campaign and the White House only thought that something had to happen—a change of course, an acknowledgement of reality—but they didn’t know what, when, or how. The map was expanding in the wrong direction. The party had changed course. The money was drying up. The polls in must-win states were getting worse.
This story is based on interviews with more than a dozen Democratic insiders from the campaign, the White House and on Capitol Hill, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
Biden met throughout the weekend with a small team of family members and advisers in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware: White House counselor Steve Ricchetti, senior campaign adviser Mike Donilon, deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini and senior adviser to the first lady Anthony Bernal, all at the president’s vacation home.
Everyone else kept moving forward, publicly vowing that none of this was going to happen, telling those who worked for them not to stop. O’Malley Dillon had set that milestone Friday, when she went on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and abruptly silenced growing speculation that she was leaving. The response from campaign workers knocking on doors had been good, she said. The campaign was in full swing. The president was determined.
“He’s not going anywhere,” she said.
Friday afternoon, a tense call followed that left many senior party officials fuming. Harris, who called in from the road, joined the Zoom somewhat late for just a few minutes — bragged about the campaign’s efforts in Michigan and Wisconsin, expressed confidence in victory, and then wrapped up, according to a person on the call. All donor questions went unanswered.
Donors left frustrated because “it was like we had no eyes and couldn’t see what was going on,” another person on the call said.
It was a bold and definitive stance. Yet many in the Democratic political world interpreted it less as a final word than as a mark of respect owed to the president. It was Biden’s decision all along. From the earliest days of the crisis, Biden’s inner circle reached out to those who publicly expressed their dismay.
He deserved “grace,” was their message. Give him his space.
That led to weeks of mixed signals, amid clearly deteriorating conditions. Ricchetti and Donilon were both in great shape during the Republican convention through Friday, a person familiar with the conversations said. Ricchetti arrived home Friday. Donilon arrived Saturday. They met Saturday night, according to another person familiar with the events. Inside the campaign, polling had deteriorated further late last week. The president, who is suffering from covid, was briefed on the data.
“The results of the survey they got recently were very discouraging,” the person said. “They wanted to stop the bleeding, give him time to think about what he wanted to say. (…) It was so relentless. Every day, he was a new person.”
On Saturday, the campaign continued to plan trips and fundraisers for Biden. A fundraising email for the Biden-Harris ticket was sent out Sunday, even after Biden released his letter announcing his decision.
In fact, Biden had already made his decision by Saturday night, the person briefed on the events said. He then went to bed. When he woke up, he did a final soul-searching before taking the next step.
Biden made his decision confident he had no viable path forward. But he remained angry at Democratic lawmakers and party strategists who began publicly calling for him to resign.
One congressman said Biden was “deeply betrayed and upset” by everyone he thought was his friend. The member said Biden had been receptive to arguments about polls and his legacy, but it took him a while and most of his aides were unaware.
Most campaign leaders had long accepted this harsh reality. But some continued to speak in its favor, regularly denouncing anonymous sources describing what was happening.
One lawmaker said Biden had “honest discussions” with his team over the weekend about the polling, which seemed to be getting worse by the day. Democrats on Capitol Hill were also concerned. Dozens of lawmakers had been reluctant to speak publicly, both out of respect for the president and fear of the political risks involved. But many were discussing how best to come forward next week if Biden doesn’t drop out of the race by the weekend, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions.
They weren’t ready to bend to his will, though. Democrats in the Senate — where Biden served for 36 years — were especially cautious but began discussing the possibility of coming forward as a group or one at a time, to arrange a private meeting between several senators and Biden and urge him to leave the Senate or warn him that they would publicly denounce him if he didn’t address their concerns, the people said.
Several of his aides said Sunday they were upset about being kept in the dark after being told Friday and Saturday to keep fighting for his candidacy. Some were even working Sunday morning, preparing for morning shows and returning to Wilmington for the week.
As of Sunday afternoon, it was still unclear when Biden would address the nation directly. He was still suffering from COVID symptoms, including a hoarse voice, a person familiar with the situation said, and they suspected that Biden and his team would wait until he felt better to make public statements.
Democratic lawmakers disagree on the best path forward. Biden’s endorsement of Harris is likely to hamper discussions about whether another candidate would be better positioned to beat Trump. But before her endorsement, many lawmakers were concerned about Harris’ ability to take on Trump — in part because of conflicting internal polling data, according to two Democratic senators — and were interested in exploring the possibility of an open convention.
Others in Biden’s inner circle say there is no choice, no time to restart and reorganize the campaign, which Harris will likely inherit directly, barring a legal challenge. One donor said there would be an open process and that Biden’s announcement of his support for Harris was a disappointment.
“People were thrilled in that brief period between Biden’s first announcement and his second,” this person said.
But that was tomorrow’s worry. Things had already changed a lot.
“I need a drink,” one campaign staffer wrote in a text message shortly after 2 p.m.
