I wrote about the pressure on Joe Biden to get out of the 2024 race being the real attack on democracy here, with Democrats ignoring the votes of more than 14 million people in the primaries.
But beyond that, there are a lot of other questions swirling around Biden’s departure.
This is a huge thing since virtually up until the very moment the announcement letter was dropped by Biden’s account on X on Sunday, Joe Biden was saying he was in it to win it, and belligerently rejecting all efforts to push him aside. Then, that we don’t see him and there’s no picture of him signing the letter, or video of him even saying now that he’s quitting is just weird and a bit concerning, particularly since there’s no reason given for quitting the race in the letter. His brother Frank indicated there were questions of health. That was met by a “source” close to the family attacking Frank and claiming he was an alcoholic (so you couldn’t trust what he had to say). Wow.
READ MORE: The Elites Just Pulled off a Real Attack on Democracy
Meanwhile, it’s his White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, not Biden, telling the Cabinet and organizing meetings, according to our sister site Townhall, citing Politico
Biden’s post to X blindsided much of the rest of the staff at both the White House and the campaign, who had gotten no indication he was reconsidering his run. Since then, Zients has managed much of the communication across an anxious administration, holding calls Sunday afternoon with both the Cabinet and senior White House staffers. Zients is scheduled to hold an all-staff White House call on Monday morning, as well as a call with appointees across the executive branch.
“I could not be more proud to work for President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the American people — alongside all of you, the best White House team in history,” Zients said in an email to staff that was obtained by POLITICO. “There’s so much more to do – and as President Biden says ‘there is nothing America can’t do — when we do it together.’”
Biden supposedly told Zients, Kamala Harris, and campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon, then spoke to some senior advisors just before he went public. But the fact that there was no “proof of life” when it comes to Biden on this issue had many, like Fox’s Dana Perino, wondering what was going on here and talking about “Weekend at Bernie’s.”
“They didn’t even release a WH still photograph. Nothing. I hope he’s fine, but you can forgive people for wondering if we are really living “Weekend at Bernie’s” right now,” she said. Perino noted that people are genuinely asking why he has withdrawn, and the lack of information on that, of course, raises additional questions.
Now, the letter did say he would appear later this week to address the question.
But as with everything Biden, the way he handles things is never good. This makes everything worse and gives rise to speculation. If it’s because of health, then he isn’t up to being in the office now, either. If it’s because he thinks he’s going to lose, then the elites just torched democracy and tossed the votes of over 14 million people for political expediency.
There’s no good answer here.
