After the fallout of Thursday night's debate hosted by CNN, there are multiple media reports that White House staff were shocked at President Joe Biden's performance against former President Donald Trump.
Since the start of Biden's presidency, close aides have taken care to shield him from people both inside and outside the White House, Axios reported.
"It's time for Joe to go," wrote Chandler West, White House deputy director of photography from January 2021 to May 2022, who shared his insights in an Instagram story following the debate, according to Axios.
"I know many of these people and how the White House operates. They will say he has a 'cold' or just experienced a 'bad night,' but for weeks and months, in private, they have all said what we saw last night — Joe is not as strong as he was just a couple of years ago."
West told the outlet via phone, "The debate was not the first bad day, and it's not gonna be the last."
Axios also reported that from the early days of his presidency, Biden's closest aides took steps to hide the president from White House staff, including the staff at the residence. Anthony Bernal, Jill Biden's top aide, and Annie Tomasini, the first lady's deputy chief of staff, often led the efforts to keep him essentially roped off.
Jill Biden was "so protective of the president, and then Anthony just protects her, and they often wouldn't let us do anything for them," an anonymous former residence official told Axios.
"The separation between the family and the residence staff was so big, so divided," the official added. "It's not supposed to be and usually isn't, even in the Trump White House."