Biden already in starting blocks for re-election run, say ex-aides
EVEN those closest to Joe Biden would not be able to dissuade the US President from running in 2024, former aides have told The Daily Telegraph.
Mr Biden, 79, seems determined to seek re-election despite repeated verbal gaffes and physical stumbles, including falling off his bike at the weekend. He would be 86 at the end of a potential second term.
An anti-biden 2024 whispering campaign appears to be gaining steam among Democrat activists, donors and local officials.
But one former Biden staff official said “He’s going to want to vindicate himself, and I don’t think he’s going to be easily pressured not to [run].
“I don’t think even Jill [his wife] or Valerie [his sister] would be able to persuade him. I don’t think it’s going to be easy to push him aside when there’s no obvious replacement.”
Mr Biden’s bike tumble – which Republicans have called a metaphor for his presidency – will not help to turn around morale among his staff.
One Democrat former White House official, who is still in touch with the current team, said some were considering leaving.
“The writing is on the wall that he’s a one-term president,” said the former official.
“There are a lot of people who entered the administration hoping for more, and are thinking, ‘What have we really accomplished?’”
The White House, engulfed by crises on all fronts, has seen an exodus of staff in recent weeks as Mr Biden’s approval rating plummets. It now stands at just 39 per cent.
He is less popular than any US president at this stage, including Donald Trump, since polling records began after the Second World War.
Mr Biden believes he is the victim of a communications problem and has blamed staff for not winning him praise for job gains, low unemployment and reducing the budget deficit.
But staff have scrambled to cope with a series of presidential gaffes on everything from Taiwan and Ukraine, to Mr Biden publicly suggesting the overthrow of Vladimir Putin.
“Nobody knows what to believe,” said one former official who worked with Mr Biden. “They don’t know, is this a new policy? Or is it just Joe being Joe and overstating something? There’s confusion. Ultimately, it leads to a situation where staffers are not 100 per cent sure he meant what he said, or if he said something that just wasn’t right.”
The White House officially denies there is low morale, calling the suggestion “divorced from reality”.
It points out that working at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is very intense, and relatively poorly paid compared to other parts of government and the private sector, and that turnover ahead of midterm elections is not unusual.
Behind the scenes, Mr Biden is reliant on a small kitchen cabinet of veteran advisers, including chief of staff Ron Klain, said to be the main voice in the room after the president’s.
Other long-time “Biden whisperers” are senior adviser Mike Donilon, counsellor Steve Ricchetti. and deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed.
Despite Mr Biden’s pledge to promote diversity, all four are white men aged in their 60s.
One former Biden staffer said: “He’s never been good on developing a team of younger talent outside his immediate inner circle. He doesn’t really have a strong ideology that young staffers can share.
“It’s only been 18 months but you can see how the fading morale stems from how the inner circle operates.”
It has not been uncommon in recent weeks for Karine Jean-pierre, the new White House press secretary, to start daily briefings with a “Thank you” to officials who are leaving.
‘I don’t think it’s going to be easy to push him aside when there’s no obvious replacement’