• President Biden wishes Obama had personally shared his fears about the state of the race, according to sources.
• Numerous Biden confidants were disappointed Obama stayed quiet when some called for the president to step aside.
• The two leaders have a close but complicated relationship.
President Joe Biden appears to have accepted that he’s no longer running for reelection. Still, according to sources, he isn’t happy that former President Barack Obama didn’t personally speak to him about his concerns about the 2024 race.
According to Politico, Biden is frustrated his former boss didn’t speak directly with him about the campaign after his June debate, complicating their already complicated relationship.
Former President Obama defended Biden after his horrific debate performance, which marked the beginning of the end of his reelection bid. At the time, Obama posted on X about his own 2012 shaky debate and affirmed that Biden was still the man who could beat Trump.
Then, he went silent.
While the former president, whom Joe Biden considers a friend, didn’t lead the chart to dump Biden, he also didn’t silence the dissenters. The inner ring of Biden’s innermost circle of advisers was upset about Obama’s notable silence, told sources to Politico. Privately, Obama told aides he was concerned about Joe Biden’s chances and reportedly discussed the matter with Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the House, who has also angered the president over her covert pressure campaign, according to the news outlet.
Joe Biden’s disappointment only contributes to continuing frustrations within their relationship, as President Biden has reportedly long believed Obama’s allies have felt disdain toward him. In addition, 2016 is never far from the president’s mind, when Biden said Obama was clear about wanting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to run for the presidency instead of his own vice president.
However, this year’s convention will feature a completely different dynamic.
At the Democratic National Convention next week in Chicago, President Biden is set to take to the stage and promote the presidential candidacy of his No. 2 Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden said Dem lawmakers pressured him to withdraw from the race
President Joe Biden said Democrat legislators pressured him to withdraw from the November presidential election because they feared he would harm their own political campaigns.
In a recent interview, speaking to CBS’ Robert Costa, Biden let with that reason when he was asked about the push within his party for him to step aside.
“What happened was a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races,” said Biden.
In the meantime, he reiterated his belief that he stood a strong chance against former President Donald Trump — a point he initially emphasized when he defended his bid to stay in the race.
“Look, polls we had showed that it was a neck-and-neck race; it would have been down to the wire,” Biden said to Costa.
However, Biden said amidst the backlash against him, he started to worry his health would continue to overpower election discussions for any Democratic candidate.
“And I thought it’d be a real distraction,” said the president.
