What convinced Joe Biden to drop out? Inside ‘last-minute’ bombshell exit that ‘completely blindsided’ his team

The decision of President Joe Biden to withdraw from the upvoming presidential race came as a dramatic and unforeseen twist, leaving his team and supporters in utter shock. The 81-year-old on Sunday expressed his wish to step aside, endorsing his VP Kamala Harris for the presidential nominee position for the 2024 elections.

What convinced Biden to make this last-minute exit? Reports suggest that the move was driven by a combination of personal and political factors that only emerged in the final moments.

Inside Biden’s ‘last-min’ decision to step down

The prez who was once completely against the idea of dropping out just four months before the elections on Sunday said what many democrats wanted to hear. “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,” the oldest ever US president said in a statement.

The decision came in the wake of major donors withdrawing millions of dollars, and growing opposition from Democrats who were concerned about Biden’s ability to compete against Donald Trump. Daily polls showed his chances of winning a second term were rapidly declining. First Lady Jill Biden was present when her husband made this crucial decision under increasing pressure to step down.

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As per CNN, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden talked a bunch on Sunday before he made his big announcement, a person who knows the details said. Also, Biden let his main guy, Jeff Zients, and his campaign partner, Jen O'Malley Dillon, know what he was going to do last min. But, even Harris who ended up getting endorsed to take over his place, didn't find out until the day Joe Biden made his announcement.

What led Joe Biden to step down from the Presidential race?

As per Daily Mail, things got heated on Saturday night when President Biden called a meeting with his top advisors Steve Ricchetti and Mike Donilon. These guys have been by Biden's side since he was a senator and are really trusted. It's also said that Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal, who are pretty close to the Biden family, showed up at the meeting. The report suggests, "that after carefully considering the evidence against him, Biden decided that stepping aside was in the best interest of the party.”

It was at that time he asked Ricchetti and Donilon to start drafting a letter for public announcement the next day. He earlier said he'd only step down if there was clear evidence from polls showing Kamala Harris would do better than him against Trump in the big election.

Also read: Meet Kamala Harris who will replace Joe Biden in 2024 race. What's her Indian connection?

“I don’t know one big donor who is going to write a check for $100,000 or more. And I know a lot of those guys,” a top Democratic donor informed CNN before the big decision.

Biden had a ‘family meeting’ before dropping out

From what it has been reported, right before the big news came out, at 1:45 PM on Sunday, just a few minutes before he dropped the bombshell, President Biden, who was still hanging out at his beach house in Delaware, started getting in touch with his top team at both the White House and his campaign. Before this, he had already chatted with Vice President Kamala Harris and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

After deciding to step down from the race, he also let his family know, with his daughter Ashley and son-in-law Howard hitting the road to Rehoboth earlier that day, according to a reliable source.

The majority of his personnel, encompassing both White House staff and those involved in the campaign, were surprised by the revelation as the decision was taken in the presence of very few, trusted aides. The rest reportedly found out through an online alert following the posting of the president's statement on his social media handle.

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