As Democrats who oppose Biden as the party’s nominee debate how to unseat him, one name in particular has emerged: former President Barack Obama.
But so far, aside from a brief post about X two weeks ago, Obama has kept his thoughts to himself.
Biden’s relative silence this week, despite being caught on camera embracing LeBron James, Dawn Staley and other basketball stars, is particularly notable given that many of his former advisers, including political strategist David Axelrod, and star acquaintances, including Oscar-winner George Clooney, have gushed about him.
People familiar with the matter said privately that the president expressed concerns over the state of the race last weekend and the likelihood of Biden winning.
Sources say Obama is keenly aware of the obstacles Biden faces. As CNN reported Thursday, Obama has also fielded calls from top Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but he’s not convinced the way forward is the right one.
Others, however, said Obama would likely not be in a position to discuss a possible resignation with Biden alone in any event, and that if he did, it would likely be a group intervention with Biden’s colleagues, including Pelosi and Rep. James Clyburn of Colorado.
According to sources who know President Obama, it is not in his nature to make definitive statements, especially when it comes to the vice president.
“The Obamas are very careful about what kind of capital they spend and where they spend it, and when they put their name on something, they only put it on sure bets,” one source said. “What is Obama good at? It’s being a cipher and getting people to project themselves onto him. The hardest thing in the world is to put your name on something. It’s strategic, and that’s what’s coming through here.”
After Clooney wrote an op-ed in The New York Times this week urging Biden to drop out of the race, Politico reported that Clooney had informed President Obama in advance, and that Obama had not tried to dissuade him.
Obama no longer has regular contact with many of Biden’s strongest former aides, including Axelrod and the hosts of the popular show “Pod Save America.”
“First of all, I would be shocked if any of these people had been on the phone with No. 44 over the last few years,” one former aide said. “I don’t think any of them were speaking for him, and I don’t think he was telling them what to say.”
Another source familiar with Obama’s thinking said the president is not policing his former aides’ activities and would not give people the impression he has control over them.
Obama is undoubtedly Biden’s top surrogate, helping raise at least $65 million for the former vice president, and the two have been confidants for each other at key junctures, sources said.
Their relationship has had its share of tense moments, most notably when President Obama and his aides encouraged Biden not to run against Hillary Clinton in the 2015 Democratic primary.
In his book, “Promise Me Dad,” Biden writes about having lunch with Obama at the White House in the summer of 2015, just months after his son Beau died of cancer, when Obama asked Biden if he was thinking about running for president.
“Mr. President, I’m not ready to make a decision yet,” Biden told Obama at the time. “We’re taking it one day at a time. If we decide to withdraw, we’ll make that decision when it’s feasible.”
But Biden wrote, “the president was not encouraging.”
Days later, Biden said he considered himself a stronger candidate than Clinton, especially in the three states that ultimately put Donald Trump on top — Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — but that “several people on President Obama’s political team were telling me I couldn’t win this race.
“There was usually a preamble. We are very protective of our vice president. We don’t want to see Joe hurt. I can only imagine what he’s going through right now,” Biden wrote in his book. “But they didn’t hesitate to ask. [senior Biden advisers] Steve [Ricchetti] And Mike Donilon urged us to consider the incredible historical forces around Barack Obama when he ran against the Clinton campaign in 2008 and barely won, and they implied that if she nearly beat us, she’ll definitely beat you too.”[Donilon]to consider the incredible historical forces around Barack Obama in 2008 when she nearly beat the Clinton machine and still just barely won and if she almost beat us they implied she will definitely beat you” [Donilon[toconsidertheincrediblehistoricalforcesaroundBarackObamain2008whenheranagainsttheClintonmachineandstilljustbarelywonAndifshealmostbeatustheyimpliedshewilldefinitelybeatyou”
According to a source familiar with Mr. Obama’s thinking, Mr. Obama was focused on Mr. Biden’s grief at the time and the meeting served only as a forum for exchanging ideas.
At a fundraiser in New York in 2019, one Democratic donor recalled President Obama being asked about his age perception of Biden and his candidacy.
“He didn’t explicitly say Biden was too old, and he didn’t, but he did say something like, it’s a hard job and I’m not sure I can do it right now, and I have to put in all my effort,” the donor recalled.
During the 2020 campaign, Mr. Obama was not shy about expressing his concerns about the Biden campaign. He was worried that Mr. Biden would be embarrassed by gaffes or media scrutiny on the campaign trail, and he met with Mr. Biden’s aides in his Washington office to receive some briefings on the campaign.
Aides to both campaigns say the relationship between Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden remains strong, with Mr. Biden even seeking the former president’s advice after last month’s disastrous debate performance. Mr. Obama prefers to be a confidant and friend to Mr. Biden, and their conversations can sometimes get deep and philosophical.
At the end of his book, Biden writes about the time in 2015 when Obama asked him, “Joe, what do you want to spend the rest of your life?”
Biden said the question remained on his mind as he was writing the book two years later.
But sources who spoke to The Hill about the matter said it was inconceivable that Obama would try to singlehandedly force Biden out of the race.
“He’s not going to do that,” the former aide said of Obama. “God Almighty is a mirror up to Joe Biden. He’s not going to drop out of this race unless he wants to, and I don’t think anybody’s going to convince him to.”
