Former President Barack Obama has urged Joe Biden’s handlers to bolster his 2024 reelection campaign efforts as Donald Trump is poised to claim the GOP nomination.
Obama told Biden’s closest advisers that his campaign aides must be allowed to “make decisions” and “move aggressively” without waiting for the approval of the White House, according to the Washington Post.
“Obama grew ‘animated’ in discussing the 2024 election and former president Donald Trump’s potential return to power, one of the people said, and has suggested to Biden’s advisers that the campaign needs more top-level decision-makers at its headquarters in Wilmington, Del. — or it must empower the people already in place,” WaPo reported.
NBC: It’s “an all-hands-on-deck moment” for the Biden campaign as Obama tells Biden he has “deep concern” and as the American people increasingly reject them pic.twitter.com/ll7FSjobl1
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 7, 2024
Obama also recently had a private lunch with Biden that was not previously disclosed, suggesting he bring on his past campaign advisers to mirror his successful 2012 reelection campaign by allowing them to operate across the country and not within the White House.
“That is a sharp contrast from Biden’s approach of leaving his closest aides at the White House even though they are involved in all the key decisions made by the campaign,” WaPo reported.
“Obama has not recommended specific individuals, but he has mentioned David Plouffe, who managed Obama’s 2008 race, as the type of senior strategist needed at the Biden campaign.”
Obama is reportedly worried about Trump’s “political strength” as he’s poised to claim the GOP nomination despite his multiple indictments and numerous ballot challenges which have yet to be reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Obama has long harbored worries about Trump’s political strength, telling Biden during a different private lunch last summer that Trump is a more formidable candidate than many Democrats realize. He cited Trump’s intensely loyal following, a Trump-friendly conservative media ecosystem and a polarized country as advantages for the former president in 2024.
Obama recently released a fundraising ad for Biden last week warning that “The other side won’t rest. So we can’t, either.”
“Our democracy depends on You,” Obama tells donors as Biden stands next to him. “We need your help to ensure Joe’s leadership continues to guide us forward.”
This comes weeks after reports surfaced that Obama was deeply concerned that Biden and Democrats could “very well could lose” to Trump in November in light of dismal polling.
Obama’s campaign adviser David Axelrod also suggested in Nov. 2023 that Biden should drop out of the 2024 presidential race in favor of a younger candidate.
“The greatest concern is that his biggest liability is the one thing he can’t change. Among all the unpredictables there is one thing that is sure: the age arrow only points in one direction,” he wrote on X.
The greatest concern is that his biggest liability is the one thing he can’t change. Among all the unpredictables there is one thing that is sure: the age arrow only points in one direction.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 5, 2023
Biden closed out 2023 with the lowest poll numbers of his presidency with a 38% approval rating, with critics citing the effects of his advanced age, his handling of Israel, and the economy.
