Top Democratic operatives have threatened Joe Biden with forcibly removing him from office if he does not resign, sources told The Washington Post.
A meticulously orchestrated “palace coup” to thwart the president’s reelection bid had been in the works for weeks, but a stubborn Biden resisted it every step of the way, a source close to the Biden family told The Post on Monday.
Insiders also laid bare the anger, paranoia and frustration Biden displayed as party elites surrounded and pressured him.
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Part of the “elaborate” strategy to remove Biden from the race, as Biden announced in a bombshell letter posted Sunday, was to allow him to debate Republican candidate Donald Trump live on television in Atlanta last month.
President Biden speaks at the 115th NAACP National Convention at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas on July 16, 2024. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Biden’s stunning performance turned the tide in a fiery 90-minute debate, appearing confused, mouth agape and at one point freezing, before going on the offensive.
“That debate was a ploy to convince Democrats that he can’t run for president,” the source said Monday.
Amid growing calls for him to resign, Biden insisted on staying on, but party leaders threatened to invoke the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The amendment would allow the vice president and cabinet members to declare the president unfit for office and force him to resign, the sources added.
Biden makes strange call to Harris campaign hours after dropping out of race
Representatives for the White House and the Democratic National Committee did not immediately respond to The Washington Post’s requests for comment.
Biden quickly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee, but sources said Democratic delegates will be urged to instead endorse Arizona senator and former astronaut Mark Kelly for president at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the 2024 NCAA championship team celebration on the South Lawn of the White House on July 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
With less than a month until the convention and just four months until Election Day, some opponents have still not endorsed Harris as Biden’s successor, most notably former President Barack Obama.
“We’re going to be navigating uncharted territory,” Obama said Sunday.
Former President Barack Obama speaks at the Obama Foundation’s Democracy Forum event at the Javits Center on November 17, 2022 in New York City. (Spencer Pratt/Getty Images)
After the debate, Hunter Biden suddenly became deeply involved in his father’s day-to-day operations, insisting on attending every meeting, formal and informal, the sources said.
“Hunter [Joe Biden] “Joe was being trapped and was very worried about his father,” the source said. “These people, these officials were not on Joe’s side.”
Sources said Biden’s staff received no advance warning of the shock decision to withdraw from the race, which had been known about since at least Tuesday.
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The letter itself, posted to Biden’s X account, also surprised many because it was typed on Biden’s personal letterhead and digitally signed, rather than White House stationery, according to sources.
“Everyone was in complete shock,” the source said. “It was pretty shocking that Jill Biden tweeted just a heart emoji.”
Democratic Party officials have known about Biden’s declining approval ratings for at least two years, the people said.
“I was scared when I saw him a few years ago,” the source said. “He just kept repeating slogans and had no idea who I was.”
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