- Biden surprised Obama with his disarray at a June fundraiser, The New York Times reported.
- Biden was upset that Obama did not support him when Democratic leaders called on him to step down.
- Biden believes Obama is partly behind the wave of attacks about his age, the people told the NYT.
During a campaign fundraiser in June, President Joe Biden was confused while on stage leaving former President Barack Obama “shocked,” The New York Times reported.
The event in question — a fundraiser in Los Angeles hosted by Jimmy Kimmel — included a viral moment in which Obama appeared to lead a frozen Biden offstage. The White House dismissed the notion at the time, saying Biden had paused to applaud.
According to an unnamed former Obama aide who spoke to the Times, the former president was struck by how Biden seemed “aged and confused.”
The report also quoted people close to the president who described a distraught Biden, recovering from COVID at his home in Delaware while battling attacks on his ability to serve another four years as president.
Biden is particularly upset that Obama didn’t help him, the Times reported. The resentment stems in part from Obama blocking Biden from running for president in 2016 to make room for Hillary Clinton, the Times reported.
But the Times also reported that Biden believes Obama is behind the wave of Democrats urging him to step down, according to people close to the president. Some reports suggest that Obama has expressed concerns about Biden’s ability to defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Behind the scenes, Biden has been weighing what it would look like to drop out of the 2024 race, according to multiple reports. But on Friday, his campaign insisted he was here to stay.
“He’s the best person to run against Donald Trump,” Biden’s reelection campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon, said on “Morning Joe.”
Following a debate against Trump in which both candidates performed poorly, dozens of prominent Democratic lawmakers and donors called on Biden to step down and allow another candidate to take his place before the Democratic National Convention in August.
Representatives for Obama and Biden did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
