Obama tells allies Biden needs to seriously consider his viability

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

Obama tells allies Biden needs to seriously consider his viability
The former president, hugely influential in the party, has told associates that Biden’s path to victory has significantly shrunk.

By Tyler Pager and Michael Scherer
July 18, 2024 at 12:05 p.m. EDT

Former president Barack Obama has told allies in recent days that President Biden’s path to victory has greatly diminished and he thinks the president needs to seriously consider the viability of his candidacy, according to multiple people briefed on his thinking.

Obama has spoken with Biden only once since the debate, and he has been clear in his conversations with others that the future of Biden’s candidacy is a decision for the president to make. He has emphasized that his concern is protecting Biden and his legacy, and has pushed back against the idea that he alone can influence Biden’s decision-making process.

Behind the scenes, Obama has been deeply engaged in conversations about the future of Biden’s campaign, taking calls from many anxious Democrats, including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and has shared his views about the president’s challenges, according to people with knowledge of the calls, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. ... A spokesperson for Obama declined to comment.

Obama sees his role as a sounding board and counselor to his former vice president, telling allies that he feels protective of Biden. In these conversations, Obama has said he thinks Biden has been a great president and wants to protect his accomplishments, which could be in jeopardy if Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress next year.

{snip}

By Tyler Pager
Tyler Pager is a White House reporter at The Washington Post. He joined the paper in 2021 after covering the White House at Politico and the 2020 presidential campaign at Bloomberg News. He won the Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency in 2022. Twitter https://twitter.com/tylerpager

By Michael Scherer
Michael Scherer is a national political reporter at The Washington Post. He was previously the Washington bureau chief for Time magazine, where he also served as the White House correspondent. Before joining Time, he was the Washington correspondent for Salon.com. Twitter https://twitter.com/michaelscherer

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/18/obama-says-biden-must-consider-viability/

[quaint]

1. Which allies? How does the writer know Obama has only spoken to Biden once?

Article is paywalled.

[iemanja]

14. Don't be ridiculous

Calling WaPo unreliable is incredible. You don't like the news. That's it. Deal with it. How many Pulitzers have you won?

[EastBayGuy]

34. I do not trust the MSM, especially the corporate billionaire owned media.

Boycott: ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, NBC, NYT, and WAPO!

[iemanja]

38. It's all fake news

Where have we heard that before?

[reACTIONary]

17. Here is a paywall free link...

https://wapo.st/3ybtMfd

[quaint]

42. TY

[hume]

2. Washington Post is not reliable.

They have been on mission to get Biden out.

[reACTIONary]

13. IMHO...

... Bullshit.

[Jose Garcia]

24. Are any news sources reliable?

[hume]

25. NYTimes called for Biden to leave the race.

Took them a while to say Trump was not a good candidate.
Now NYTimes is full time bashing Biden.

But, you know, Trump is unifying the Republican Party! Hurrah!

[azureblue]

3. you know this is a lie

It's from the WaPo, who is scared of Biden.

And take note of these types of articles, concern trolls, etc., appearing today - it's because the GOP knows they are in deep trouble with Trump as their candidate, so they attack Biden. Note how these articles never mention Biden's track record, or anything about felon Trump who should not even be running for office in the first place?

[58Sunliner]

4. Trashing. Blocking.

[stopdiggin]

5. and we continue to pound this (so obviously futile and LOSING) drum .....

barely up this AM - and already at my full dosage of hand wringing and pearl clutching for the day

Did the Post (or Obama) perchance tell us who is going to step into Joe's shoes - and of course flip the House and save the Senate at the same time. Big shoes there. But I'm curious. The name ... ?

[twodogsbarking]

6. Get ready for more of this shit the closer election day. It is their only hope.

It could work too, sadly.

[LudwigPastorius]

21. No, this has to be settled either in 2-3 weeks, the date of the "virtual" nomination, or...

during the convention.

The calendar will not change to September without an officially nominated candidate.

[Bev54]

7. Diminished because of all this bs the press and some dems are putting him through

It needs to stop.

[Bitbit]

8. An Obama spokesperson declined to comment

These anonymous leaks are getting old.

[SunSeeker]

10. Obama has been very quiet.

[Bayard]

20. I would like Obama to come out and say:

This is bullshit, and I strongly support Joe Biden. Just do it! Frankly, I'd be shocked if Obama did say something like this.

Here's what these people seem unwilling to understand---Its too late to be pushing another candidate. Stand behind Biden, or prepare for trump.

[Arne]

9. Drumph has already tried and succeeded in undoing

many Obama, Biden accomplishments.
This is one of the many reasons I hate him.

[A Physicist]

11. At this point, the probability of Biden winning, is diminishingly small

In 2016 Trump barely wins the EV by 304 to Hillary’s 227, he loses the popular vote by 46.1% to 48.2%. He barely wins the following states, but he does win them, and they were the key. Look at the EV maps from 2016 versus 2020, the only states that flip are: Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona. Simply by flipping these states in 2016, Trump won, and simply by flipping these states in 2020, Biden won, and simply by flipping them back, Trump will win again. The vote in five states mean the difference between fascist dictatorship and democracy. Like it or not, it is what it is. Based on polling averages, Trump has an advantage in each state of Arizona/5.7%, Georgia/3.9%, Michigan/1.3%, Pennsylvania/4.5%, Wisconsin/3.0%. Without Michigan, Trump still wins by 286 EV.

[hadEnuf]

18. So how does Harris or a Democrat with no money turn this around?

?

[LeftInTX]

27. That's what I say..

[Mysterian]

26. The only poll that matters is on election day

Deal with that in your own special way, sparky.

[PortTack]

33. Polls have been abysmally inaccurate over the last 3 election cycles...look it up for yourself..did you figure

That into your equations??

[Diraven]

51. Remember the "Red Wave"?

Seems like only a couple of years ago....

[duckworth969]

12. Pull this post down

What nonsense. Get on the train already.

WAPO is owned by a billionaire who doesn’t want to pay taxes.

Simple as that.

[iemanja]

16. An overreaction

Nowhere in the article does it say Obama is pressuring Biden to step down. It does say he has "concerns," and that Biden aids blame him for not uniting the party. It says Obama sees himself as a sounding board. It does say that Obama thinks Biden's path to victory has narrowed since the debate.

The knee-jerk attacks on one of the nation's preeminent paper is supported by no facts. WaPo has won multiple Pulitzers. And you have won how many?

[IronLionZion]

15. Way too late for this, not helpful at all

[manicdem]

19. Things will settle down

Everyone is panicking unnecessarily with all that's been happening. It's still early in the game and polls are starting to turn in our favor.

[Polybius]

37. Emerson swing state polls today were brutal

[manicdem]

56. 538

I saw a post with Biden improving in the 538 poll. I assume that one is more accurate?

[Polybius]

58. Do you recall the name of the company?

538 does not do their own polls, but lists various polling companies.

[nbsmom]

49. No need for that. Shame on you. NT

[Ranting Randy]

23. We saw Biden on Lester Holt, completely in control of facts and policy

Biden did a great job on the Lester Holt interview, fully in command of the facts, policies and nuances. Holt was a jerk and Biden handled it well. During the debate, Biden had a bad 90 minutes but Trump is a bad person and has been so for his adult life. Dishonest, a liar, a felon, tax cheat, adulterer and the list goes on.

The demographics are shifting on the GOP, they are aging out and reasonable people who care about the values that make a functional community refuse to support the them.

You remember the horror you felt when you learned Trump was declared President? We can prevent that if we get busy, make calls for your local candidates, to get out yard signs, talk with your friends and vote blue no matter who. You can be part of the solution or sit home and be part of the problem.

Until 2016 I always voted for the best candidate, no matter which party they were part of. Now I believe we need to band together and say Never Again Republican. Vote blue, no matter who. End of Rant.

[EndlessWire]

47. Me, too.

I used to carefully analyze all candidates no matter the party they belonged to. Now, I will not vote anything but Blue.

[elleng]

28. 'according to multiple people briefed on his thinking.'

[Vogon_Glory]

29. The people expecting Trump to beat Biden are expecting miracles

They expect the gates of heaven to open and a white dove to settle on Donald John’s shoulder and a great voice to proclaim”This is my son, in whom I am most pleased.”

They expect Donald John to become lucid and articulate, and present a political program both progressives will get behind and support.

They expect Donald John to ascend to new hrhetorical heights, of the sorts we saw in Obama and Reagan.

They expect Donald John to exhibit a great shift and become a man of his word and trustworthy.

They expect Donald John to ascend from the word salad-spouting stage show performer to a speech maker not seen since the last century.

They expect Donald John’s mental acuity to ascend to the best of the best that we haven’t seen since FDR.

I don’t expect such miracles. The American people is better off with Joe.

[A Physicist]

40. Your Passionate Beliefs

Will not yield a Biden win

[Linda ladeewolf]

54. If a white dove

Flew down from heaven to sit on trumps shoulder, it would probably crap on that same shoulder.

[Think. Again.]

30. I didn't read the article, but let me guess...

"Unnamed Sources"?

[cstanleytech]

31. I have no problem with Obama saying with Biden as it's something Biden does need to do that.

No, I'm not advocating that he does it as I suspect much of what are seeing is being caused by foreign agents such as Russia and China.

[Prairie Gates]

32. Obama worried about Biden's legacy? He better worry about his own after this nonsense

I wouldn't give him the time of day.

[BadgerKid]

35. "according to multiple people briefed on his thinking" is Hearsay

WaPo is not journalism.

[Diraven]

52. Hearsay from people who read his mind too

Apparently

[PortTack]

36. Anyone else but me remember the then president Obama telling candidate Joe Biden "you don't have to do this."

Anyone?

[Novara]

39. Unbelievable that news someone doesn't like is called bullshit

WaPo isn't the only place that is reporting this. And you can bet that if this "leaked," it was purposeful. Obama is not careless.

[Deminpenn]

41. This is kind of typical of how Obama operates

He wants everyone to get along and not have any drama.

Remember he had a grand bargain made with Boehner that would've given Boehner and Rs a significant win except Boehner/Rs wouldn't take yes for an answer. Remember he was walking away for the ACA until Pelosi stiffened his spine and passed it. Obama's not exactly a profile in courage. It's not his nature.

[Elessar Zappa]

43. So now we're turning on Obama?

He was a great President. I’m still alive because of the ACA, which would t have happened without him as President!

[Deminpenn]

46. No, just my observation of his nature

He just seems to be naturrally cautious. It's not good or bad, it just is.

I couldn't be happier that you have personally benefitted greatly from the ACA. But I think Pelosi's role in getting it done when Obama waivered on being able to get it done shouldn't be overlooked or minimized.

[no_hypocrisy]

44. And Obama is supposed to be the "Game Changer"?

Now, that means Joe Biden HAS TO step aside?

I love them both, but no. Just no.

[flying_wahini]

45. I haven't heard this from Obama and until I do I won't even go there.

I Do not trust this source at all.

[TexasBushwhacker]

50. +1

[DemonGoddess]

48. something everyone needs to consider..

1. RNC convention has had abysmal ratings, so the networks aren't happy about that.
2. Fear mongering to cast doubt amongst us is something the Rs EXCEL at
3. Until President Obama actually SAYS this outright, I'm ignoring it.

[TheDemsshouldhireme]

53. Biden will exit this race

its a matter of when, not if. And I will vote for whoever the democratic candidate for president is. Just my humble opinion.

[JohnnyRingo]

55. I'm unable to see how retirement is in any way shameful.

Biden is the most union friendly president in my long life, and that's a big deal to me.
But if he leaves, he can hold his head high and pass the torch to someone with a little more curb appeal if I can use that phrase.

The cries to get out are deafening everywhere but DU, and that's great, but if Obama says we need new blood at the helm, it's over. Take your gold watch with our love and respect...

[Javaman]

57. This story have been proven to be complete bullshit nt

[mucholderthandirt]

59. Et tu, Barack?

First they're feeding us something from Nancy Pelosi, now it's Obama. Who's next? Will we hear from Menendez, who's got his own troubles? How about Joe Manchin. Maybe he's volunteering to take the unwelcome job of being president. Oh, wait, he's already tried that.

I've had about enough of this shit. Joe has said he's in it to win it. Until he says otherwise, I'm not listening to any more of this crap.