Ex-White House Staffer Says Biden Administration Was Set on Second Term From ‘Day 1’

Jill Biden’s ex-press secretary Michael LaRosa has revealed that former President Joe Biden’s team planned for him to run for a second term from “Day 1” in the White House, back in 2021, and it was made “pretty clear” to him from the start this was their expectation.

Biden’s decision to remain in the 2024 presidential race in March of that year reignited scrutiny over his past remarks about being a “transitional” leader after he had initially positioned himself as a bridge to the next generation of Democrats.

While the former president never publicly said he would be a one-term candidate, Politico reported that he’d privately told advisers he would not seek re-election.

However, launching his 2024 bid, Biden claimed that he once considered passing the torch but argued that the country’s political polarization and his legislative record justified another term. Only after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump did concerns about his electability push him to step aside.

LaRosa, however, speaking to Puck journalist Tara Palmeri at the Science Institute at American University on Wednesday, contended that Biden as “bridge” was never in play and that from “Day 1” of the administration his colleagues were eyeing re-election.

Asked by Palmeri if he was concerned about Biden’s 2024 campaign, LaRosa offered a stunning reply:

Yes. And I’ll say this. When I got to the White House on day one it became pretty clear to me [Biden wanted to run again]. You know, I think I went in, first of all, I was just happy to be there, excited.

I used to drive my boss home every night, my chief of staff, because we lived in the same building. And I remember him saying something about: ‘Oh, well, that’s after the reelect. That’s after, that’s a second term thing.’ I said: ‘Wait, what?!’

“You believed the bridge,” Palmeri added.

La Rosa replied: “I think, well, it wasn’t that I believed the bridge. It was just that I just assumed, kind of like Barack Obama probably assumed, he was picking Biden knowing or thinking he wasn’t going to run again.”

He continued: “I kind of thought, you know, in 2020 – 2021, that this was going to be like, okay, we’re going to pass the torch to another generation of Democrats and let them handle a Trump 2.0 campaign. But I was, you know, brought to reality pretty fast.”

LaRosa paraphrased pushback he received from his then-colleagues at the time that included questions like “But why not? Why wouldn’t he run? Why wouldn’t he?”

The former staffer outlined his response to them: “I’m like, well, because it felt like in 2020 that we barely won the nomination, that Democrats were kind of not yearning for Joe Biden. They were kind of either stuck with him or they were eating their vegetables and saying, he’s our best shot, not a socialist from Vermont. He’s our best shot. We’re comfortable with him. He’s competent. He’s earned a lot of goodwill.”

“Ultimately, the problem with deciding to run for reelection again was a misread of our mandate,” he added.

Watch above via YouTube.

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