These three paragraphs from POLITICO are a wow:
Over the course of his presidency, Joe Biden’s small clutch of advisers have built an increasingly protective circle around him, limiting his exposure to the media and outside advice — an effort to manage public perceptions of the oldest person to ever hold the office and tightly control his political operation.
But inside the White House, Biden’s growing limitations were becoming apparent long before his meltdown in last week’s debate, with the senior team’s management of the president growing more strictly controlled as his term has gone on. During meetings with aides who are putting together formal briefings they’ll deliver to Biden, some senior officials have at times gone to great lengths to curate the information being presented in an effort to avoid provoking a negative reaction.
“It’s like, ‘You can’t include that, that will set him off,’ or ‘Put that in, he likes that,’” said one senior administration official. “It’s a Rorschach test, not a briefing. Because he is not a pleasant person to be around when he’s being briefed. It’s very difficult, and people are scared shitless of him.”
The piece makes clear that a) Biden’s debate showing was not an anomaly b) his inner circle have known he is declining for a while now and c) it has affected the way the White House is running.
That should give Democrats pause as they consider whether Biden should stay on the ticket. Big time.
I break it all down in today’s edition of The Morning.
The Morning: Biden's debate performance wasn't a one-off