07-07-2025
Obama warned Biden aides his presidential campaign was a ‘mess'
Barack Obama warned Joe Biden's senior staff 'your campaign is a mess' a year before the 2024 presidential election, according to a new book.
Tensions between the two former US presidents intensified as the latter's campaign progressed, with Mr Obama reportedly telling allies that Mr Biden should seriously reconsider his decision to run again, following his disastrous debate against Donald Trump.
Mr Obama is said to have also raised concerns over his former vice-president's strategy seven months before the Atlanta debate.
Mr Biden was persuaded to drop out of the race just a few weeks after the debate, officially stepping aside in July 2024.
The previous year, Mr Obama, 63, had lunch with Mr Biden at the White House to celebrate his 81st birthday.
During the meeting, Mr Obama claimed that splitting the campaign leadership between Delaware and Washington would not work, according to How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America by Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf.
'After the lunch, Obama did not leave the White House right away,' the book reads.
It adds: 'He stopped to visit with Biden's senior staff, many of whom used to work for him, and shared his account of what he and Biden had discussed. Obama was more blunt with the staff. 'Your campaign is a mess,' he told them.'
Mr Biden's staff in Delaware were also said to be 'despondent' after the former president heard concerns from Democrats that his campaign did not have a presence in their districts, with Mr Biden telling one aide: 'I have a leadership problem on the campaign.'
The former Democrat leader in January told, Jen O'Malley Dillon, the White House deputy chief of staff at the time, to fix the campaign.
'Biden inner circle resented Obama'
According to the book, some of Mr Biden's inner circle resented Mr Obama, with some aides reportedly rolling their eyes after Mr Obama said he had 'won a couple of these' elections in fundraising videos filmed for the campaign in 2023.
The book, which was released on Monday, adds: 'There was a lot of overlap among aides to Obama and Biden, but to Biden loyalists, Obama was a p—k. They thought he and his inner circle had constantly disrespected and mistreated Biden, despite his loyal service as vice-president.'
Mr Biden was also urged to take part in the disastrous early debate against Mr Trump by his aides, according to a memo obtained by the book's authors.
'The earlier you are able to debate the better, so that the American people can see you standing next to Trump and showing the strength of your leadership, compared to Trump's weakness and chaos,' the senior advisers wrote in an April 15 memo published by Politico.
It said: 'After further discussion, your senior advisers... continue to believe it is important to move forward with a plan that supports your participation in debates as early as possible.'
The memo added: 'Your senior advisers think strategically holding these debates in the fall, after many of the battleground states have already begun their early voting process and voter registration deadlines have passed is too late.'
The June 27 debate proved to be a train wreck. In the 90-minute debate Mr Biden lost his train of thought and appeared frail, renewing calls for him to step down. Mr Biden ended his re-election campaign weeks later, paving the way for Kamala Harris to replace him.
The claims somewhat contradict those made in Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, which claimed that Mr Biden's inner circle shielded the public from the extent of his decline while serving as president.
Mr Biden said the allegations in the book were 'wrong' and that 'there's nothing to sustain' them.
The latest book also claims that when Mr Biden called Mr Trump to congratulate him on his success, the Republican leader, who had spent years attacking his political rival, said: 'In another life... we would be friends and go golfing.'
