Biden’s decision to drop out crystalised Sunday

WASHINGTON (AP):

At 1:45 p.m. Sunday, United States President Joe Biden’s senior staff were notified that he was stepping away from the 2024 race. At 1:46 p.m., that message was made public.

It was never Biden’s intention to leave the race: Up until he decided to step aside Sunday, he was all in.

His campaign was planning fundraisers and events and setting up travel over the next few weeks. But even as Biden was publicly dug in and insisting that he was staying in the race, he was quietly reflecting on the disaster of the past few weeks, on the past three years of his presidency, and on the scope of his half-century career in politics.

In the end, it was the president’s decision alone, and he made it quietly, from his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, sick with COVID-19, the first lady with him as he talked it through with a small circle of people who have been with him for decades.

“This has got to be one of the hardest decisions he’s ever made,” said Delaware Senator Chris Coons, the president’s closest ally in Congress, who spoke with him Sunday.

“I know he wanted to fight and keep going and show that he could beat Donald Trump again, but as he heard more and more input, I think he was wrestling with what would be the best for the country,” Coons said in an interview with the Associated Press.

CONCLUSION

It wasn’t until Saturday evening that Biden began to come to the conclusion that he would not run for re-election. He started writing a letter to the American people.

Biden had been off the campaign trail for a few days, isolated because of COVID-19, when it all started to deeply sink in – his worsening chances of being able to defeat Donald Trump with so much of his party in open rebellion, seeking to push him out of the race – not to mention the persistent voter concerns about his age that were only exacerbated by the catastrophic debate.

Biden was at his beach home with some of his and Jill Biden’s closest aides.

By Sunday, his decision crystalised.

He spoke multiple times with Vice President Kamala Harris, who he would endorse. He informed White House chief of staff Jeff Zients and his longtime aide and campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon.

A small group of senior advisers from both the campaign and the White House were assembled for the 1:45 p.m. call to relay Biden’s decision, while his campaign staff released the social media announcement one minute later.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote.

Just about a half-hour later came his public vote of support for Harris. It was a carefully choreographed strategy meant to give the president’s initial statement full weight and to put a period on the moment before launching forward into the next step.