President Joe Biden has repeatedly said he will not drop out of the 2024 race. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
President Joe Biden has consistently said he will not give up.
In the meantime, some donors and elected officials are urging him to step down.
If Biden were to change his mind, the final push would likely come from within his own small circle.
President Joe Biden has made it clear that he will not drop out of the 2024 primary race.
Biden rallied supporters in Wisconsin on Friday as he continued his push to hold on to power amid a growing number of megadonors and Democratic officials questioning whether he is still the best candidate to beat former President Donald Trump.
“You voted for me, and nobody else,” Biden said at the rally. “You, the voters, did that. And yet, some people don’t seem to care who you voted for, and well, guess what, they’re trying to push me out of the race. Well, let me make it as clear as I can: I’m still in the race.”
Biden’s disastrous debate performance highlighted voters’ deepening concern about the re-election of the 81-year-old, who would be 86 if he leaves office in January 2029.
So far, influential voices like former President Barack Obama are backing him. Biden still has time to change course. But it’s unlikely that another current party leader will push him out of the race in a meeting like the one in 1974 between Sen. Barry Goldwater and leading Republicans and President Richard Nixon, who let him know he wouldn’t survive the Watergate scandal.
Biden may well be swayed by someone in his inner circle—many of whom have served alongside him for decades. Ultimately, only a Biden colleague could change his mind.
Jill Biden
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden after the CNN presidential debate in Atlanta on June 27. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The president is “Jill Biden’s husband” in every sense of the word. Like many modern first ladies, Jill Biden is described as one of the most powerful voices in the White House.
“Those who know her have no doubt that Jill Biden’s top priority is protecting her husband and family from harm,” journalist Katie Rogers wrote in her book on modern first ladies.
Since the debate debacle, the first lady has also made clear that she remains committed to keeping Biden in the race.
Over the years, Biden has been portrayed as the toughest character of the man who spent decades shaking hands with Washingtonians. She has often been called the guardian of family grudges, including when it came to convincing Vice President Kamala Harris that she hadn’t crossed the line when she denounced Biden’s past statements on race during a heated Democratic presidential primary debate.
After Dr. Biden helped repel protesters in 2020, the former vice president joked that his wife “is my Secret Service agent.”
““Wow, you don’t pick up a girl from Philadelphia, I’ll tell you,” Biden said at the time.
Valerie Biden Owens
Valerie Biden Owens, Biden’s sister, has been a key spokesperson and supporter throughout his political career. Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
President Biden has often cited his father’s admonition: “Family is the beginning, the middle and the end.” His younger sister, Valerie Biden Owens, knows that better than anyone.
She has been involved in Biden’s political career from the beginning. Owens managed Biden’s surprise U.S. Senate campaign in 1972 and his first presidential campaign less than two decades later.
“Valley is in some way the connective tissue throughout the campaigns from 1972 to today“, Kate Bedingfield, then Biden’s deputy campaign manager, told BuzzFeed News in 2019.
Biden Owens joked at the time about how difficult it was not to run her brother’s ultimately successful campaign, given that she had run his campaigns since high school.
“This is the first time I’m not managing the campaign, and I can tell you, it’s really frustrating!” she said, according to BuzzFeed.
An unnamed Democratic official told Axios that if there is a quiet campaign to oust Biden, one of the few people making that argument should be the president’s sister.
Ted Kaufman
Former Sen. Ted Kaufman (seen here in 2009) has been part of President Joe Biden’s orbit for decades. Rob Carr/AP
Former Sen. Ted Kaufman of Delaware may be one of Biden’s few contemporaries.
Biden has been in office so long that few, if any, current Democratic leaders can match his longevity, especially given his complicated relationships with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as the New York Times points out.
Kaufman was at Biden’s side for decades, starting with the 1972 campaign. Just a few years after Biden was elected, Kaufman became his chief of staff. When Biden left the Senate after being elected vice president in 2009, Kaufman replaced him.
He has been described as Biden’s best friend and alter ego. Kaufman has told Biden the hard truth before. In 1987, he was the one who urged the then-senator to drop out of the presidential race because of a plagiarism scandal.
““There’s only one way to stop the sharks: and that’s to stand down,” Kaufman told Biden, according to the New York Times.
Biden often returns to Delaware on weekends. When the president returns home, he meets with Kaufman, according to the Times.
Ron Klain
Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain is so close to President Joe Biden that he is considered a quasi-son. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain is at the center of Biden’s debate debacle.
For decades, Klain has been preparing Democrats for presidential debates. He took a leave of absence from his new job at AirBnb to help his former boss prepare.
An Indiana native, Klain has worked for Biden almost continuously since graduating from Harvard Law School in 1987. Under Biden, he served as senior counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. After serving as chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore, Klain returned to that role during the Obama administration.
Klain’s decision to endorse former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ahead of the 2016 Democratic primaries over Biden, who was still considering a candidacy, was seen as an act of profound betrayal.
But Klain has returned to Biden’s orbit and fulfilled his long-held ambition of becoming a president’s top aide. It’s their proximity that could make it difficult for Biden’s former chief to pressure his longtime boss to step aside.
““He’s like a father to Ron Klain. What do you say to your father? It’s hard, very hard,” Elaine Kamarck, a longtime member of the Democratic National Committee, told the Times.
According to the Times, Biden still speaks to him once a week to figure out the best ways to attack Trump.
Mike Donilon
Mike Donilon, a longtime aide to President Joe Biden, left the White House to help Biden’s re-election campaign. Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Like others in Biden’s inner circle, Mike Donilon has been at the president’s side for decades.
According to the Times, Biden calls Donilon almost daily to get his take on current events. Donilon, who was a senior White House adviser, left the administration to join Biden’s reelection campaign.
He played a major role in shaping Biden’s message of success in 2020.
