According to a new report, former President Barack Obama met privately with President Joe Biden on at least two occasions and shared his concerns that he might lose the 2024 election.
TIME Magazine claims in a new report that Obama met with the president last June to issue a warning about Biden’s reelection chances. He allegedly advised Biden to make the upcoming presidential race a Trump referendum and become more aggressive.
According to a Democrat briefed on the discussion, during a private lunch, Obama told Biden his campaign was unstable, convincing unhappy voters would be difficult, and defeating Trump would be more difficult than in 2020.
Although Obama believed Biden would take his advice, he allegedly saw minimal improvement over the next six months.
“This time, Obama’s message was more urgent. He expressed concern the reelection campaign was behind schedule in building out its field operations and bottlenecked by Biden’s insistence on relying upon an insular group of advisers clustered in the West Wing, according to the same Democratic insider,” noted TIME.
Without making substantial alterations to his campaign, Obama told Trump he could sweep all seven battleground states. If that were to happen, Trump would be guaranteed victory. Biden won the presidency in 2020 by earning slim victories in the swing states of Wisconsin, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona—all of which Trump won in 2016.
A recent Axios report suggested Biden and Obama have had a lengthy rivalry over their respective policies and accomplishments. The article additionally suggested that Biden had criticized Obama privately, a claim that Andrew Bates, White House Deputy Press Secretary, denied.
Politico reported that Obama is expected to join Biden for a virtual rally with activists to commemorate the 14th anniversary of Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act. The event is meant to showcase what Biden’s advisers believe is one of Biden’s strongest arguments for reelection.
The anniversary of Obamacare event is set to include a digital ad blitz in swing states, including Wisconsin, Arizona, New Hampshire, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Nevada, where Biden is expected to heavily campaign.
Obama met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, raising eyebrows
Just this week, Obama, who was President of the White House between 2009 and 2017, met privately with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for about an hour.
Although it is unclear what the meeting was about or any specifics, a spokesperson said the visit was an “informal courtesy drop-in” as part of Obama’s London trip.
“President Obama’s team made contact, and obviously, the prime minister was very happy to meet with him and discuss the work of the Obama Foundation,” said a Downing Street spokesperson. The Barack Obama Foundation is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 2014 and focuses on social mobility.
However, since Obama’s visit, some Trump supporters have taken to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their views on why the former president was meeting Sunak.
Laura Loomer, conservative commentator, noted the meeting on X, “Why is Obama having private meetings with world leaders?”
X user Graham Allen also noted that the meeting signals a “third” Obama term: “More proof we are in Obama’s third Term!!! He just arrived at 10 Downing Street for a private meeting.”
X user The1776 claimed the meeting officials in a Private meeting should tell everyone this is Obama’s third term and Biden is his puppet/scapegoat.”
While X user and political commentator GuntherEagleman wrote, “He no longer trusts Joe Biden…He is handling it himself.”
This isn’t the first time the former president has visited Downing Street. He previously met with then-Prime Minister David Cameron in 2016. Despite their denials, Obama’s recent meeting with Sunak follows speculation that Michelle Obama is running for president amid ongoing concerns over Biden’s competency and age.
Michelle Obama recently denied any plans to run for president.
