Biden family discusses plan to withdraw from elections

Amid mounting pressure on President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race, two people familiar with the discussions say members of the president’s family have discussed what his withdrawal from the race might look like.

The general tone of the conversations has been that any exit plan if Biden decides to do so, as some of his closest allies increasingly believe he will, should best position the party to beat former President Donald Trump.

Biden’s Withdrawal Plan

The Biden family members have specifically discussed how he wants to end his reelection bid on his own time and with a carefully calculated plan, NBC reported.

Considerations of the campaign’s impact on his health, his family and the stability of the country have been at the forefront of the discussions, the people familiar with the discussions said.

The possibility that Biden is considering stepping down, let alone that his family is toying with a potential exit plan, is an unusual development that comes after he has repeatedly said he will not give up his position as the party’s presumptive nominee.

But concerns have grown among party leaders, donors and even officials who are part of his reelection effort with each passing day since the debate three weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Democrats are watching Republicans rally around Trump, who just survived an assassination attempt and accepted his party’s nomination Thursday night.

Discussions about how to craft a plan for Biden to step down have also been taking place among senior staffers, not just the president’s family, according to a person close to the reelection effort.

An Inevitable Withdrawal

The family members Biden has relied on most include first lady Jill Biden, his son Hunter and his sister Valerie Owens, as well as a handful of longtime close aides who have been at the center of the discussions.

Talks about Biden’s political future have been raging as he remains at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, sidelined after testing positive for Covid on Wednesday.

As for whether any announcement is imminent, a person close to the Biden family said: “We don’t even know what we’re doing tomorrow.”

“I think it’s inevitable,” another person close to the reelection effort said of Biden dropping out of the race.