President Joe Biden’s aides reportedly feel intense apprehension during briefings with him, as he disregards advice from anyone other than top aides, leading to a sense of isolation and difficulty in managing his reactions during briefings.
“It’s like, ‘You can’t include that, that will set him off,’ or ‘Put that in, he likes that,’” one senior official stated. “It’s a Rorschach test, not a briefing. Because he is not a pleasant person to be around when he’s being briefed. It’s very difficult, and people are scared shitless of him.”
“He doesn’t take advice from anyone other than those few top aides, and it becomes a perfect storm because he just gets more and more isolated from their efforts to control it,” the official added.
The leak from Politico highlighted internal frustrations within the Biden campaign following a lackluster debate performance and calls for him to withdraw from the race.
Despite claims of the leak being false, concerns persist about Biden’s leadership style and the impact on his candidacy, with a significant portion of Democrat voters expressing a desire for him to step down.
“The media has spent a ton of time blowing this out of proportion!” Biden’s deputy campaign manager Quentin Faulks said.
To address these challenges, Biden’s team plans a public relations campaign involving increased media engagements, aiming to salvage his standing within the party amid growing doubts and criticisms.
“Everyone was told this was for the best,” one White House staffer said. “Now, it’s the worst possible outcome. And we’re all trying to figure out why the people who know him best and make all the decisions didn’t seem to anticipate that this might happen.”
