Obama allegedly told Biden’s team to “move aggressively” against Trump at a private luncheon.
As the topic of the 2024 election and Trump’s run for reelection came up, Obama became more “passionate” and suggested that Biden give his campaign more “agility.” The encounter occurred within the last several months, but it’s only now breaking in the news. (Obama isn’t included in the White House visitor records, but his visits may be exempt from the logs.)
According to reports, Obama was “animated,” as he advised President Joe Biden—formerly his vice president—and other advisers and supporters that the president should either hire more senior decision-makers or strengthen the current ones to defeat Trump. He didn’t say who exactly to recruit for Biden’s Delaware headquarters, but he supposedly brought up David Plouffe—who oversaw Obama’s 2008 campaign—as a strong contender for the position of senior strategist.
Concerns among voters on the economy and the president’s advanced age have the Democrats demanding that Biden’s team do more. During his first campaign address of 2024 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Biden viciously attacked Trump on Friday, comparing him to the Nazis and calling him “sick,” “a failure,” and a danger to US democracy.
Whether or not that tactic—naming Trump as his primary opponent before the Republican nomination process even begins—will energize his followers throughout the general election is the current unknown. As part of his campaign platform, Biden highlighted the president’s successes, including guiding the economy from the COVID-19 epidemic. But many Americans are still dealing with the aftermath of skyrocketing food and housing costs, crossing the border into Mexico is still a huge hassle, and Republicans in Congress are obstructing his effort to get more funding for Ukraine.
The fact that Biden is 81 years old makes him more susceptible to the kind of falls and gaffes that Trump, who is just four years younger, has been quick to poke fun at.
