It was approaching 5.30am East Coast time and the president had been awake almost 24 hours.
Walking slowly down the plane’s stairs, he struggled to step up into the SUV waiting to take him to the 8,000-acre Santa Barbara ranch where he and his family have just enjoyed a week-long vacation. His Secret Service agents surrounded him, shielding him from the watching cameras, as one gave him a helpful boost into the car.
On the tarmac, First Lady Jill Biden watched, visibly concerned. For her husband — who dropped out of the election race almost a month ago to the date — had just ended his exhausting journey from Democratic nominee to lame-duck president.
Last Monday, Biden had flown in to Chicago to address the first night of the Democratic National Convention.
Scheduled to speak at around 10.30pm (ET), the evening was meant to be his swan song, a farewell to the party faithful and a passing of the torch to his Vice President and the new Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris.
As Joe Biden disembarked Air Force One in the early hours of Tuesday morning in California last week, he was visibly shaking.
Joe Biden makes teary entrance at DNC after daughter Ashley’s speech
A crowded speaking schedule meant that a planned video tribute to the president had to be cut at the last minute — as did the expected performance by James Taylor, one of Biden’s favorite singers — in a desperate bid to get him on stage before midnight.
Jill and their daughter Ashley spoke to introduce Biden, with many noting how brief the two women’s remarks seemed to be — though the White House insists neither speech was shortened.
Nonetheless, the organisational failure will have done little to help what has been described in recent weeks as the First Lady’s growing feeling of ‘betrayal’ at how the Democratic party has treated her husband.
Earlier this month, the Mail exclusively reported how former speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a message to Biden on Saturday, June 20, threatening to go public with her concerns about his candidacy if he did not withdraw from the election race. The next day, Biden tweeted a letter confirming his withdrawal, before endorsing Harris.
Pelosi’s ultimatum is said to have left the Bidens furious — and has all but ruined a 50-year friendship between their families.
The Biden clan left Chicago almost immediately after his speech had wrapped. The flight to California was about four hours, with the president taking foreign security briefings for much of that time. It’s unlikely that he managed to get much sleep at all.
Far from extraordinary, however, that image of Biden, shaking with exhaustion as he left Air Force One and after his own party had humiliated him on the global stage, was one of just many behind-the-scenes dramas in a week so fraught with party infighting that it began to resemble a Shakespearean tragedy.
On Tuesday, the turbulence continued, as Michelle and Barack Obama took the keynote slots in Chicago’s United Center.
While Barack lauded his former Vice President with praise, referring to him as his ‘brother’ and thanking him for his service, Michelle notably did not name Biden a single time during her rousing, 23-minute speech.
Was it a snub? Insiders say it was — adding that the former First Lady allegedly refused to speak at the convention while Biden was still in the 2024 race.
Michelle is said to remain angry with the Bidens over their treatment of her close friend Kathleen Buhle, Hunter Biden’s ex-wife.
Buhle has been exiled by the family during a lengthy separation from Hunter dating back to 2017.
Michelle never campaigned for Biden when he was the nominee and, sources say, only confirmed her DNC speaking slot after he was out the way.
It was one of just many behind-the-scenes dramas in a week so fraught with party infighting that it began to resemble a Shakespearean tragedy. (Pictured: The Obamas).
Monday night’s organisational failure will have done little to help what has been described in recent weeks as the First Lady’s growing feeling of ‘betrayal’ at how the Democratic party has treated her husband.
Jill Biden shares how Joe decided not to run
Meanwhile, seated in the front row, watching it all, was the woman who led the charge against Biden: Nancy Pelosi.
Asked by the Mail on Monday if he was still angry with Pelosi or if he has spoken to her recently, Biden simply replied: ‘No, I haven’t spoken to her.’
However, it is understood that the president has been keen to exact his revenge — namely with his full-throated endorsement of Harris as the new party nominee.
Pelosi and Harris are both from California but are not close. When Harris first ran for the state’s attorney general role in 2010, Pelosi endorsed a rival candidate.
After Biden dropped out, Pelosi had been in favor of an open convention instead of a coronation for Harris, with whom she is said to have serious reservations.
There is strong speculation that Biden endorsed Harris within hours of his withdrawal precisely to aggravate Pelosi — and to stop her from pushing Harris out, just as she’d done to him.
The television cameras were trained on Pelosi as Biden addressed the convention on Monday. She sat with the California delegation, holding a ‘We heart Joe’ sign and awkwardly mouthing along to chants of ‘We love you’.
Biden aides are keen to stress that Joe and Jill have ‘moved on’ and are ‘looking forward’ — but insiders say otherwise.
Indeed, Biden is also said to have maintained a lingering resentment for his old boss, after Obama favored Hillary Clinton’s candidacy over his own back in 2016.
Reports earlier this summer suggested Obama had privately urged Biden to drop out the 2024 race. But when the former president’s close pal, actor George Clooney, penned a damning New York Times op-ed, openly calling for Biden to go, it seems that resentment turned into full-blown anger.
On Tuesday night, as the Obamas addressed the convention, Harris held a campaign rally 90 miles away, in Milwaukee. It was not a coincidence.
Harris’s decision to absent herself was made out of sensitivity and respect to Biden, insiders say.
Pelosi (pictured) and Harris are both from California but are not close. Pelosi had been in favor of an open convention instead of a coronation for Harris, with whom she is said to have serious reservations.
On Tuesday night, as the Obamas addressed the convention, Harris held a campaign rally 90 miles away, in Milwaukee. The decision to absent herself was made out of sensitivity and respect to Biden, insiders say.
But Harris hardly needed the visual of a triumphant on-stage appearance with Barack Obama. The two are said to be close. Harris was an early endorser of his 2008 campaign, backing him over Clinton. They speak on the phone often.
After Harris gave her final-night speech to the DNC on Thursday, Obama posted his gushing approval on Twitter.
‘[Harris] represents the best of America. Let’s get to work,’ he wrote.
With only 70 days to go until the election, the Democrats certainly have their work cut out if they’re to ensure that their own internal problems — sparked by the ousting of a sitting president — don’t derail Harris’s campaign.
