Minutes of a withdrawal How Joe Biden made his toughest decision yet
Biden's decision to drop out of the US presidential race was irrevocable on Sunday. High-ranking staff members found out just a minute before the public.
24.07.2024, 00:00
24.07.2024, 04:35
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- US President Joe Biden withdrew from the race for the next presidency on Sunday.
- Even close associates only found out about the decision very shortly before the public announcement.
- The US President did not take the decision lightly. "I think he wrestled with what was best for the country," said Senator Chris Coons, Biden's closest ally in Congress.
- The decision to step out of the ring only matured on Saturday night. Biden and his wife, Jill, were staying at their vacation home with some of their closest aides.
At 1.45pm on Sunday (local time), President Joe Biden's senior staff were informed that he would no longer be standing for re-election. The public learned of his decision at 1:46 pm.
Biden made the decision quietly while his campaign team continued to plan fundraisers and other events and work out travel dates for the coming weeks. After all, the President had previously insisted that he would stay in the race. As late as Sunday morning, leading members of the team were still assuring television talk shows that "President Biden is our likely frontrunner".
The decision
But meanwhile, at his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach in the US state of Delaware, the 81-year-old Democrat, who is suffering from Covid-19, reflected on the disaster of recent weeks. With his wife Jill by his side, he consulted with a small circle of longstanding colleagues. These included chief strategist Mike Donilon, deputy White House chief of staff Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal, the first lady's senior adviser.
"This must have been one of the hardest decisions he's ever made," Senator Chris Coons, Biden's closest ally in Congress, told the AP news agency on Sunday after speaking with the president by phone. "I think he's been wrestling with what's best for the country."
AP also spoke with more than a dozen people familiar with Biden's thinking in the weeks, days and hours leading up to his decision. The following accounts are based on their accounts.
The realization slowly drips into consciousness
The decision to step out of the ring only matured for Biden on Saturday evening. He had already been forced to take a break from campaigning for several days due to Covid-19 and began to let everything sink in. The chances of beating Donald Trump in November are deteriorating rapidly. Parts of his own party are openly rebelling against him staying in the race. And not to forget: Many voters are worried about his age, exacerbated by his disastrous performance in the televised debate with Trump.
Biden began drafting a letter to the American people.
By the time Sunday dawned, Biden's mind was made up. He spoke several times with Vice President Kamala Harris, briefed White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and his campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon.
A small group of senior advisers in the White House and campaign staff were briefed at 1:45 p.m. via phone switch. The campaign staff posted the social media message a minute later. Another half hour later, Biden then made public his support for a top Harris candidacy.
It was a carefully choreographed strategy, designed to give full weight to Biden's original withdrawal statement and then, after a pause, focus on the next step.
Joe Biden had the full backing of his wife Jill in his decision, says her communications director Elizabeth Alexander. No matter "which path he would choose".
The ill-fated televised debate
Even before the televised debate on June 27, things were far from going smoothly for Biden. In a joint survey of US adults conducted by AP and the Norc polling center in August 2023, 77% said that Biden was too old to work effectively for another four years. Not only 89 percent of Republicans thought so, but also 69 percent of Democrats. In April, more than half of U.S. adults surveyed said Biden's presidency was hurting the country in areas such as immigration and the cost of living.
But Biden insisted that he would be able to win over voters if he spoke directly to the people outside, explaining his achievements, talking to them, looking them in the eye. After all, he had a lifetime of experience that told him that he would succeed if he kept at it.
His campaign team was so confident that it bypassed the committee responsible for arranging presidential debates and arranged two televised duels with Trump under new rules. That led to the debate on June 27 that triggered Biden's downfall. He gave answers that made no sense, broke off mid-sentence, sometimes stared blankly in front of him and let various untruths from Donald Trump stand unchallenged.
The slow acceptance
Publicly and privately, Biden fought to stay in the race, working to convince voters that he was fit for a second term. He was frustrated by Democrats' public actions against him.
A few times it actually looked like he might be able to stop the avalanche. Biden made several powerful campaign speeches, gave a few TV interviews that were "so-so" and a long press conference in which he displayed nuanced political knowledge but also made a few blunders. But the doubts did not disappear.
The Democratic majority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, invited Biden staffers to a meeting on July 11. Senators voiced their concerns, and almost none expressed confidence in the president. Schumer then asked Biden for a personal meeting.
At the July 13 meeting in Rehoboth, he told the president he had come out of affection and made a personal appeal to Biden. It was about the president's legacy, the future of the country and fears that Democrats could be pulled into a downward spiral in the upcoming congressional elections. It was the same day that an assassin tried to shoot Trump.
Schumer told Biden he did not expect an immediate decision, but hoped the president would think about his words, according to a person familiar with the content of the conversation. Biden replied, "I need another week." The two men embraced. Eight days later, Biden renounced.
