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As of Saturday night, President Joe Biden planned to stay in the 2024 presidential race, but he shocked his senior staff on Sunday afternoon by announcing his withdrawal, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
“Last night the message was proceed with everything, full speed ahead,” the source said on condition of anonymity. “At around 1:45 p.m.today, the president told his senior team that he had changed his mind.”
Minutes later, Biden made his bombshell announcement.
The decision came less than a month after Biden, 81, had a disastrous debate against Republican Donald Trump that raised questions about his mental acuity. A senior adviser revealed that Biden came to his decision over the past 48 hours after reviewing extensive data and polls showing his path to victory was largely out of reach.
Following the debate, Biden began losing ground to Trump in battleground states, and his campaign had been pursuing a razor-thin path to reelection.
The announcement caught many White House and campaign staff off guard, with several expressing shock at the sudden turn of events. Biden made the announcement while recuperating from COVID-19 at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, after testing positive during a two-day trip to Las Vegas last week.
Nursing a cough, the 81-year-old Biden had spent the weekend reflecting on Democratic pressure to withdraw, aides said. He was particularly irked at former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom Biden’s advisers believed was orchestrating a pressure campaign to force him to step down.
Hours before the announcement, the Biden campaign had denied reports suggesting he was planning to drop out. “It is false. And I think that it is false to continue to try to gin up this narrative,” deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks told MSNBC’s “The Weekend” on Sunday morning.
“Last night the message was proceed with everything, full speed ahead,” the source said on condition of anonymity. “At around 1:45 p.m.today, the president told his senior team that he had changed his mind.”
Minutes later, Biden made his bombshell announcement.
The decision came less than a month after Biden, 81, had a disastrous debate against Republican Donald Trump that raised questions about his mental acuity. A senior adviser revealed that Biden came to his decision over the past 48 hours after reviewing extensive data and polls showing his path to victory was largely out of reach.
Following the debate, Biden began losing ground to Trump in battleground states, and his campaign had been pursuing a razor-thin path to reelection.
The announcement caught many White House and campaign staff off guard, with several expressing shock at the sudden turn of events. Biden made the announcement while recuperating from COVID-19 at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, after testing positive during a two-day trip to Las Vegas last week.
Nursing a cough, the 81-year-old Biden had spent the weekend reflecting on Democratic pressure to withdraw, aides said. He was particularly irked at former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom Biden’s advisers believed was orchestrating a pressure campaign to force him to step down.
Hours before the announcement, the Biden campaign had denied reports suggesting he was planning to drop out. “It is false. And I think that it is false to continue to try to gin up this narrative,” deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks told MSNBC’s “The Weekend” on Sunday morning.
