The Crash and Burn of Biden’s Political Career: Ignorance or Denial?
Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s political decline was a spectacle encased in an impervious bubble designed by his inner circle to limit access to him. This explains why the former President took over three weeks to cease his hopeless quest for re-election following his catastrophic display on the debate stage. The final stages of his political career were marked by an intense insularity, becoming a protective wall that cut him off from the rest of the world.
In late March, a serendipitous phone call with Mr. Biden happened on my part. He had just conceded his poor second term performance to his successor, Mr. Trump, stating he saw nothing ‘productive’ being achieved by the new administration. His response to questions about regretting withdrawing from the presidential race was detached, ‘No, not now. I don’t spend a lot of time on regrets.’
Unsurprisingly, this unexpected phone call ignited a firestorm among his top-tier aides. They were befuddled about how myself, an outsider, had broken through their protective shield and obtained direct access to the former President. However, soon after, interactions with Biden were cut short, as if by a switch; further calls were met with the cold, discouraging tone of an automated voice mail. The number was soon disconnected.
This level of overprotection and utter refusal to connect with voices outside his cocoon-like inner circle became defining features of Biden’s dwindling political career. It was particularly evident following his disastrous debate performance, integral to the most precarious moment of his presidency. His re-election chances were on the line, particularly due to growing concerns about his age and mental acuity.
Biden’s aides, afraid to confront the former President with the grim reality of his sinking ship, implemented a strategy of controlled access. The strategy was so intense that even long-established friends and supporters, like Senator Chris Coons, Democrat from Delaware, were blocked off. It’s bewildering that Biden’s longtime advisers, Steve Ricchetti and Mike Donilon, never arranged for him to meet the campaign’s pollsters, choosing instead to paint a rosier picture of the political landscape.
Democrats were on edge. Biden’s catastrophic on-screen meltdown during a debate with Trump had already sparked fears, not just of Biden’s imminent failure in the presidential race, but also of a risk for their party’s survival. Representative Pete Aguilar of California, a leading Democrat, voiced out his concerns, ‘Do you realize how bad it is?’ he asked Mr. Ricchetti, but to no avail. Ricchetti refused to acknowledge the perceived crisis.
The then-president was not completely oblivious to the raising alarm among his party, but his aides continued feeding him a distorted representation of reality. Biden’s campaign had pollsters; data-driven individuals ready to hand over the cold, hard facts. But they were sidelined, distanced from the president and redirected to present their data to the advisors instead.
The polling data painted a sobering picture. Biden was lagging behind Trump across battleground states, and traditionally Democratic states like Virginia, Minnesota, and New Mexico were hanging in the balance. In addition to public polling data, pollsters also had to rely on data from other clients’ private polling to enforce their stance. Despite their diplomatic approach, the conclusion was incontrovertible: Biden was not persuading the voters, teetering on the edge of no return.
Amidst the slowly escalating crisis, Ricchetti stubbornly clung to a misguided interpretation of the pollsters’ role. When one of them, Geoff Garin, reached out to Ricchetti after the presentation, he was met with hostility. According to Ricchetti, the pollsters were there not to disclose the path toward defeat, but to devise a plan for victory.
The situation reached a flashpoint during a secret White House meeting between former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Biden. Pelosi’s increasing frustration mirrored the party’s concern: the polling data was clear that Biden would lose to Trump. However, Biden’s advisor, Mike Donilon, on the other hand, strongly disagreed, not matching Pelosi’s apprehension.
Senior staff members including Adrienne Elrod, a Biden campaign adviser, started doubting whether the President was seeing the full picture. The lack of direct access to the President led to desperate measures. They sought out the hosts of ‘Morning Joe’ on MSNBC, a show Biden watched religiously every morning. The polling statistics and concern that Biden was being kept in the dark were shared in the hopes that they would reach Biden through the show.
The people surrounding Biden had multiple instances where they could communicate the harsh realities to him. However, the former President, on his way to a fundraiser, was circumspectly presented with an overly positive view. This misleading presentation unnerved some overhearing the conversation, making them panic about Biden’s lack of touch with reality.
However, during a subsequent fundraiser at the house of businessman Avram Glazer in East Hampton, N.Y., Biden’s bubble was momentarily pierced. The former President was held accountable by the donors for his poor debate performance, and he was unable to effectively address their concerns about his declining cognitive sharpness. Despite such criticism, Biden dismissed the entire debacle, promising to stay in the race. His aides, displaying a stunning lack of judgment and concern for the situation, brushed aside these concerns as donor anxiety.