‘Attempted coup’: Joe Biden seething as allies and enemies pounce

An ‘angry and betrayed’ Joe Biden has dug in his heels after Washington DC began ‘Julius Caesar-ing’ the president, amid reports of an imminent ‘major announcement’.

Joe Biden is seething after allies and enemies “stabbed him in the front and back” in what has been described as an “attempted coup” of the president by his own party.

The Biden campaign dug in its heels going into the weekend, saying in a memo he’s “in it to win it” and that there are no plans for an alternate candidate.

It comes as anonymous leaks claimed the president was planning a “major announcement” in the coming days following increasing pressure to drop out of the 2024 presidential race against Donald Trump.

Amid the cacophony of top Democratic leaders calling for his ouster, Biden is “feeling angry and betrayed” by people he’s known for 30 or 40 years.

“They are Julius Caesar-ing this man,” a senior Biden aide told Politico, while the Trump campaign, sensing a tougher fight against any replacement, called it an “attempted coup” by the Democrats.

The extent of the betrayal could see Biden dig in his heels and remain in the race, with the deepest wounds coming from the four horsemen of his candidacy apocalypse: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi.

“Can we all just remember for a minute that these same people who are trying to push Joe Biden out are the same people who literally gave us all Donald Trump?” two sources familiar with Biden’s thinking told NBC News.

“In 2015, Obama, Pelosi, Schumer pushed Biden aside in favour of Hillary; they were wrong then, and they are wrong now.”

Barack Obama is pressuring behind the scenes that Joe Biden’s chance to defeat Trump is “diminished”. Picture: AFP

“How did all this work out for everyone in 2016? Perhaps we should learn a few lessons from 2016; one of them is polls are BS — just ask Secretary Clinton,” the insider said.

“And two, maybe, just maybe, Joe Biden is more in touch with actual Americans than Obama-Pelosi-Schumer?”

Biden is pushing back on the groundswell of agreement that he will eventually step down through both insider leaks and official campaign communications.

In response to rumours that Biden would drop out as early as the weekend, the president’s senior adviser Anita Dunn texted Politico: “But he isn’t, so get a good night’s sleep.”

Biden campaign battleground state director Dan Kanninen added in a memo that Biden is “in this race and he’s in it to win it”.

“Moreover, he’s the presumptive nominee, there is no plan for an alternative nominee,” Kanninen wrote.

“In a few short weeks, Joe Biden will be the official nominee. It is high past time we stop fighting one another. The only person who wins when we fight is Donald Trump.”

Senior Trump adviser Chris LaCivita told columnist Jonathan Martin that ”they are actively engaged in an attempt in my view — and a lot of people share this view — in deposing the President of the United States”.

“You can’t step down as a candidate for president because you’re cognitively impaired while still being president. So you know, the two are linked.”

Reports suggested that Biden planned to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election but not step down from the White House, which would elevate Vice President Kamala Harris to the Oval Office.

Instead, the plan was to hold a mini-primary between Harris and three other contenders.

Former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, widely tipped for a role in a future administration, said: “Nothing says democracy like holding a fake primary and then having donors hand-pick a nominee behind closed doors.”

Originally published as ‘Attempted coup’: Joe Biden seething as allies and enemies pounce