Jill and son Hunter push Joe to fire staff as yet ANOTHER Biden swoops in to circle the wagons with presidential bid on life support
Jill and Hunter Biden are taking the lead behind the scenes in the White House, urging President Joe Biden to fire staff they feel have disserved him and fight on as the Democratic presidential nominee.
Meanwhile, the president’s sister, Valerie Biden Owens, who has served as Biden’s “gut check” and closest adviser, is en route to the White House for the Fourth of July festivities, where she will have one-on-one meetings about her brother’s re-election campaign.
The trio’s support for the president comes amid reports that he has told allies he is considering dropping out of the race. The White House denies this, saying Biden is doing everything he can to win. Biden and his team are working feverishly to drum up support among party members, lawmakers, governors and donors to assure them he can defeat Donald Trump in November.
Jill, Hunter and Valerie are the three most important people in every decision Joe Biden makes about his future.
He listens to them the most. They should get his blessing to drop out of the presidential race. But a new report from NBC News reveals how the trio rallied to support Biden in the race.
Jill and Hunter Biden — with Hunter Biden’s wife Melissa Cohen (right) — leave Hunter’s gun trial in Wilmington, Delaware.
Jill Biden was on her way to events in Pennsylvania and Michigan this week to promote the president’s accomplishments in the White House.
But Hunter was with his father, following him to a ceremony in the East Room for Medal of Honor recipients. He also reportedly attended meetings in the West Wing.
The entire family will be at the White House to celebrate July 4th.
It’s the second time in five days that they’ve been together.
The Biden clan gathered at Camp David this past weekend for a pre-scheduled photo shoot with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz. But the main topic of conversation was Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Trump.
Discussions included whether to fire senior White House adviser Anita Dunn and her husband, Bob Bauer, who is Biden’s personal attorney. The family members are angry that Biden was loaded with statistics to spout during the debate instead of displaying his natural empathy.
Dunn helped Biden prepare for the debate and Bauer played Trump in fictional debates.
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients denied there were any discussions about removing Dunn or Bauer.
“The president and first lady have complete confidence in their team, including Anita and Bob,” he told NBC News. “There is absolutely no truth to these baseless and insulting rumors.”
Valerie Biden Owens (left) managed Joe Biden’s first campaign for Senate and has been involved in every campaign since; Joe Biden and Valerie Biden embrace after lunch in Wilmington, Delaware, in February (right)
Valerie Biden Owens, 78, the president’s younger sister, has long been one of his top political advisers. She managed his first Senate campaign in 1972 and has been closely involved in every one of his campaigns since, including his presidential campaigns.
She also became a surrogate mother for Hunter and Beau after Biden’s first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden, and their 1-year-old daughter Naomi were killed in a car crash in 1972, shortly after Biden won his first race for U.S. Senate.
She moved into her brother’s house to care for the boys while Biden commuted daily by Amtrak to Washington, D.C.
The Biden family has grown closer in recent months as the presidential race intensified and Hunter Biden went on trial for federal weapons charges.
The president’s son was found guilty of three felonies. Jill Biden and Valerie Biden Owens were in court nearly every day to support him.
The family believes Hunter is being prosecuted only because Joe Biden is president. Even some Republicans questioned why prosecutors were prosecuting him on charges that he lied on a form when he bought a gun. Hunter Biden was deep in a drug addiction at the time.
The first lady referred to the attacks on Hunter when the family spoke at Camp David this weekend, NBC News reported.
She addressed what the family has been through since Biden decided to run for president, signaling that now was the time to fight, two people familiar with the conversations told the network.
She pointed out that Hunter could go to jail for this.
Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to the president, with Joe Biden at Camp David
Bob Bauer, Dunn’s husband, is Biden’s personal attorney
President Joe Biden, from left, first lady Jill Biden, Hunter Biden and Melissa Cohen Biden after returning from Camp David
There’s another reason the Bidens are digging in their heels. The family, and Jill Biden in particular, remembers how Joe Biden was forced to drop out of the 1988 presidential race after a plagiarism scandal.
“In 1987, she watched him be forced to resign by the press, pundits, and polls, and that was a really painful experience for both of them,” Michael LaRosa, the first lady’s former spokesman, told the The New York Times.
He said he discussed the 1988 episode with the first lady several times while he was working for her.
“I think they learned from that experience and they wouldn’t feel forced like they did in 1987.”