President Joe Biden ©AP=Newsis, ‘[Dailian = Reporter Yi Semmi] President Joe Biden of the United States announced his decision to withdraw as the Democratic presidential candidate on the 21st local time, which was made secretly without public knowledge the day before the announcement and was only shared with family and closest aides. He informed his staff one minute before the announcement.’,
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, ‘According to The New York Times (NYT), President Biden made an emergency call late Saturday (20th) evening to his advisor Steve Ricchetti, saying “Come to the house with Mike.” Ricchetti, the advisor, and Mike Donilon, the senior strategist, have been close aides to Biden for a long time.’,
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, ‘The two met with President Biden, who is in self-isolation at his home on Rehoboth Beach in Delaware due to COVID-19, and worked on the statement announcing his withdrawal as a presidential candidate until late at night. While Donilon helped draft the statement, Ricchetti reportedly focused on the next steps, such as when and how to inform the staff and how much to disclose.’,
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, ‘CNN reported, citing a senior campaign official, that President Biden’s decision to withdraw was made within the past 48 hours.’,
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, ‘The Washington Post reported that President Biden informed his other staff members of his decision to withdraw just one minute before officially announcing his resignation at 1:46 p.m. that day on X (formerly Twitter). He instructed his Chief of Staff Jeff Zients to gather the White House and senior campaign staff for a conference call at 1:45 p.m.’,
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, ‘As President Biden spoke during the call, the statement was posted on X, and Zients subsequently held a video call with Cabinet members and senior White House officials.’,
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, ‘At 2:26 p.m., Zients sent a message to the entire White House team, stating “There is too much work to be done” and quoting President Biden’s message, “When we are together, there is nothing America can’t do.”‘,
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, ‘According to NYT, during this call, President Biden read the statement to his staff, including Anita Dunn, a senior advisor in charge of advertising strategy, and thanked them for their hard work. President Biden told his staff, “Get to work. Let’s finish this.”‘,
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, ‘First Lady Jill Biden was also with President Biden throughout the weekend.’,
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, ‘Vice President Kamala Harris, whom President Biden announced he would support as the new candidate, reportedly learned of the President’s resignation news only on the day of the announcement.’,
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, ‘According to NYT, after President Biden’s resignation announcement, White House staff members were reported to have experienced shock, shed tears, or expressed relief.’