Joe Biden faced a cruel summer due to backstabbing, leaks, and threats from members of his party to step down.
The relentless assault on his 50-year political career was a profoundly personal blow to Biden, orchestrated not just by close Democratic allies but by those he considered family.
Amongst them was his former boss and the man he often called a friend — Barack Obama.
The former president was rumored to have the right words and data for many top Democrats and important donors, convincing them to withdraw from Biden’s campaign.
The execution of the plan was a resounding success. Biden was forced to resign as the Democratic nominee, and he willingly endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, as his successor.
The Obama takedown of his former vice president had consequences — Biden has stopped talking to him.
The sitting president made it clear during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that he and Obama were on opposite teams.
Biden flew to Illinois, delivered his speech, and immediately escaped to California for a brief vacation with his wife, Jill Biden.
A source close to Biden told The Daily Beast and Politico that he had no plans to “stick around” for Barack and Michelle Obama‘s speeches.
Obama used his appearance at the convention to send a message to Biden: He is sorry for his role in his resignation.
The father of two used his prime-time address to praise Biden and call him by a private and sentimental word to both of them — “brothers.”
During his speech, Obama attempted to repair the rift by saying this about Biden: “Joe and I come from different backgrounds besides some common Irish blood. But we became brothers. And as we worked together for eight—sometimes pretty tough—years, what I came to admire most about Joe wasn’t just his smarts, his experience; it was his empathy and his decency and his hard-earned resilience, his unshakeable belief that everyone in this country deserves a fair shot. And over the last four years, those are the values America has needed most.”
Obama praised Biden for his consequential accomplishments during his one term in the White House.
Obama stated: “At a time when millions of our fellow citizens were sick and dying, we needed a leader with the character to put politics aside and do what was right. At a time when our economy was reeling, we needed a leader with the determination to drive what would become the world’s strongest recovery: 15 million jobs, higher wages, and lower healthcare costs. At a time when the other party had turned into a cult of personality, we needed a leader who steadily brought people together and was selfless enough to do the rarest thing there is in politics: putting his own ambition aside for the sake of the country.”
Biden has yet to react to Obama’s significant move. The duo reconciling could have implications for the election.
