The Hill’s Amie Parnes and NBC News’s Jonathan Allen just published the first book that tells the full, behind-the-scenes story inside the Biden, Trump and Harris campaigns. It’s already in the Top 10 on Amazon (and No. 1 for elections).
Top revelations about the 2024 election:
Obama didn’t want Harris: Former President Obama wanted then-President Biden to drop out and then have the party move to an open fight for the nomination. Obama ultimately endorsed then-Vice President Harris a few days after Biden’s withdrawal, but “did not think she should be the candidate,” according to an unnamed confidant.
What if Biden died?: Back in 2023 (!), Biden’s aides had backup plans for the scenario that Biden died and Democrats needed another candidate in 2024. “It shows what we had to do to prepare with the unique circumstances we had, which was an eighty-plus-year-old president who was running,” one party official who was involved in the secret talks told Parnes and Allen. A Harris aide went as far as carrying around a list of judges who could swear in the vice president on short notice.
Omg, this made me laugh: Remember when Biden had COVID-19 over the summer right before he dropped out? Well, Biden’s campaign aides had a karaoke night during that time, eating, drinking and singing Tubthumping” by Chumbawamba. One aide described it as “karaoke at the end of the world.”
Nancy Pelosi urged Biden *not* to debate Trump: Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) assured Biden that he could beat now-President Trump but warned him: “You just can’t go onstage with him.”
Trump was worried about debate optics: Trump was worried he was hitting Biden too hard during the infamous June debate. Excerpt: “How do I keep hitting him without coming off as an a—hole? Trump thought. And if I do stop hitting him, will viewers lose interest? He suddenly became acutely aware of the optics of bullying a sitting president of the United States.” The Hill’s
Watch: Parnes and Allen discussed more revelations on Hill TV’s “Rising” — keep an eye on for video of the segment this afternoon.
Order ‘Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House’