In the nearly three weeks since President Joe Biden took the debate stage in Atlanta and plunged his re-election campaign into chaos, his closest consultations have been not with his White House chief of staff, his top communications strategist or even the leader of his campaign.

Instead, he is relying on members of his family – a tight-knit clan that includes his son, Hunter, and the first lady, Jill Biden – along with a tiny group of loyalists to steer him through a self-created crisis and quell a rising rebellion against his candidacy from within his own party.