President Joe Biden was unwilling to withdraw from seeking reelection because of concerns he and senior staff had on whether Vice President Kamala Harris was up to the task of facing former President Donald Trump, Axios reported Monday, citing three Biden aides familiar with recent talks about his plans.
Biden, 81, the oldest-serving president in U.S. history, eventually stepped aside Sunday after weeks of fretting by Democrats following his disastrous debate performance against Trump. Biden wrote in a statement posted Sunday on X he is withdrawing from the race because "it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term."
The relationship between Harris’ office and the White House often has been tense, Axios reported. White House aides sometimes believed Harris wasn't a team player and stayed away from any task with risk, but some Harris aides believed the White House, particularly top aide Anita Dunn, wasn't helpful to the vice president.
Harris aides sometimes suspected Biden's team didn't want to give Harris opportunities to shine to avoid her being seen as a viable alternative to Biden ahead of his re-election bid, Axios reported.
Some senior Harris aides told others they resented how Biden's team got frustrated with the optics of Meena Harris, the vice president's niece, publishing a children's book just before Biden's inauguration — but then celebrated when Hunter Biden published a book months later.
Lorraine Voles, Harris’ chief of staff, told Axios that Biden and Harris' many achievements in the president's term were "possible in part due to the hard work of the White House staff who view themselves as one team."
But some Democrats found the Biden team's quiet trashing of Harris ironic, given they complained about how aides to Barack Obama did the same thing to Biden when he was vice president.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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