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December 20, 2024
White House Aides Finally Reveal Who Really Ran The Country As Biden Slid Into Mental Incompetence - His 'Inner Circle' And Aides Have Been Running America Since The Start
With President Joe Biden’s time in office winding down, dozens of those close to his operations over the years told the Wall Street Journal how aides insulated the 82-year-old and handled his responsibilities as concerns of his fitness increased.
President-elect Donald Trump’s domination of the news cycle since winning the 2024 election has allowed Biden to fade from the national politics scene. But since the 82-year-old dropped out of the presidential race, questions about his physical state, how long the president had been declining and how it was being handled, have remained unanswered. The WSJ interviewed nearly 50 people who have been close to Biden throughout his administration and they detail how staff handled cabinet officials, presidential responsibilities and campaign events.
Biden, who was often prone to gaffes and having an unsteady gait, was typically trailed by aides, Annie Tomasini and Ashley Williams, while participating in events, according to the WSJ. Those aides tried to stay within ear shot or eye distance of the president over the years, often giving him “basic instructions” like when to leave and exit the stage in an event, the outlet reported.
Aides also adjusted the president’s schedule to start his meetings later in the day as the 82-year-old was typically not his sharpest in the morning, some sources told the WSJ. Sometimes, the meetings were reportedly scrapped all together if Biden was having an “off day.” The White House denied this account to the outlet.
“He has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow,” a former aide recalled one official saying to them, according to the WSJ.
Over the years, some lawmakers saw aides and senior advisers acquire roles that they believed the president should’ve been handling, the WSJ reported. Some cabinet officials, according to the outlet, said they frequently dealt with the president’s advisers rather than the 82-year-old himself.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told the WSJ that the president had daily conversations with the members of his cabinet. At the White House’s request, some cabinet officials contacted the outlet to tell them about their positive relationship with the executive branch, adding that they often received phone calls from Biden.
When it came to getting directive from the president, former senior cabinet aides told the WSJ that a “top-down” approach was used. Rather than discussing policy and direction with the cabinet officials, the White House would issue directives for each agency, the WSJ reported. It was a system that made it hard for the cabinet officials, the sources told the outlet, “to discern to what degree Biden was insulated because of his age versus his preference for a powerful inner circle.”
“If I had an issue or I needed attention on something, I had multiple avenues to explore to raise the issue,” Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told the outlet. “You don’t always have to raise the issue with the president.”
Rather than meeting with Biden (who held nine cabinet meetings in four years), cabinet members typically met with the president’s advisers, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan and economic adviser Lee Brainard, the outlet reported. From there, the advisers would bring the meeting notes to the president and then report back to the cabinet official, former administration officials told the WSJ.
Despite Treasury secretaries typically meeting with the president more frequently than others, the WSJ reported that Secretary Janet Yellen was kept at “an arm’s length relationship” and rather than dealing with Biden, typically was in touch with his advisers instead, according to people familiar with the interactions.
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Though always able to get a meeting with Biden, even Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin experienced a more distant relationship with the president as the years went on, the WSJ reported. Over the last two years, Austin’s invitations to regularly brief the president decreased and solo meetings with Biden became rare and typically virtual, according to the outlet.
Bates denied that there had been any change in Austin and Biden’s relationship and frequency of meetings to the WSJ. A Pentagon spokesperson told the outlet that Austin typically called Biden on different defense matters.
Aides also worked to keep Biden buttoned up on the campaign trail.
When it came to private events, donors were “shocked” when officials told them that they would not be getting a “free ranging question-and-answer session,” the WSJ reported. Instead, donors were told to send in a couple of questions they had and they were later given notecards on questions to ask the president, according to the outlet.
The White House told the WSJ that it was typical for staff to help walk high-ranking officials through events.
Some lawmakers remarked to the WSJ about their lack of relationship and ability to talk to the president.
Independent West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin told the outlet that the president’s staff play a much bigger role in day-to-day operations than he had seen from previous presidencies.
“They were going, ‘I’ll take care of that,'” Manchin said.
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