How Biden REALLY feels about being forced to step down from 2024 race – and what he thinks of being shunted sideways by Kamala

Joe Biden was sitting on Air Force One with civil rights leaders last week when he made an odd comment about Kamala Harris “replacing” him as the candidate.

“Kamala and I talked,” Biden noted, as cable news pundits could be heard in the background trying to predict who Harris would be running mate. “I told her she could pick me.”

After a brief silence, Biden admitted he was joking.

The moment of levity came before Biden’s first public appearance since dropping out of the race, according to The Washington Post.

When Biden made his appearance in Austin, Texas, he was greeted with thunderous applause, resurfacing after what many saw as a career-ending series of events.

Now Harris is the heir apparent. Biden seems to be embracing this fact with both hands, despite his initial hesitation.

Harris, seen here Thursday in Houston, is now the heir apparent — a fact Biden has apparently embraced with both hands, despite his initial hesitation.

“I felt no remorse at all,” said Al Sharpton, who was on the plane at the time.

“He’s made his decision. He’s at peace with it,” Sharpton continued. “I felt a man who was at peace with where he was and trying to move forward.”

“He reflects,” added Marc Morial, the head of the National Urban League, who accompanied Biden throughout Monday.

‘He is in a pensive mood,’ he continued.

‘It’s very natural and very human to be in such a reflective mood after such a long and unique career.

“Try to think of anyone who has had such a long and varied career,” he continued, referring to the way the politician took up his post on the New Castle County Council in Delaware in 1970

“I can hardly think of anyone else, because he was elected so young,” he said.

“Kamala and I talked,” Biden reportedly said Monday as analysts on Air Force One TV argued over who Harris would pick as her running mate. “I told her she could pick me.”

The Washington Post spoke to several people who were on the plane at the time, including civil rights leader Al Sharpton, who was seated to Biden’s right. He is seen here shortly afterward in Houston with Harris, whom Biden said he holds no grudge against.

“He’s reflective,” added Marc Morial, the head of the National Urban League, who was with Biden all day Monday. “He’s in a reflective mood.” Both were surprised at his ability to crack jokes after he was essentially replaced

That career will inevitably come to an end in six months, when a new candidate takes over while Biden is still trying to process the situation.

People close to the president told the Post that the process has been surprisingly streamlined, as Democrats are backing Harris to take on Trump, while Biden himself has given his official support.

Big names like the Obamas have followed suit and the vice-president’s campaign is quickly gaining momentum.

This week, CBS News got a firsthand account from Austin Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who was there when Air Force One landed in his city on Monday.

He was the third person to welcome Biden onto the tarmac, after weeks earlier becoming the first incumbent Democrat to plead with him to abandon his re-election bid.

“Thank you for suggesting this,” Biden reportedly told him, in a non-combative tone, as Doggett thanked him for resigning.

Representative James E. Clyburn, one of Biden’s closest political allies, also spoke positively about the commander in chief’s performance, revealing that the 81-year-old is already looking to the future.

Austin Rep. Lloyd Doggett this week recalled how he greeted Biden on Monday and was thanked by the president — after the congressman earlier this week became the first sitting Democrat to ask him to withdraw from the race

Rep. James E. Clyburn, one of Biden’s biggest political allies, also spoke positively about how the commander in chief is doing, revealing that the 81-year-old is already looking to the future

“He was very focused on what happens next,” the South Carolina representative told The Post on Monday of Biden’s stance on Air Force One.

“Martin Luther King’s last book was ‘Where Do We Go From Here, Chaos or Community?’ That’s about where we are today,” he continued.

“Are we going to have chaos in the future or community in the future? That’s what the president is thinking about more than anything else.”

“I think he views these six months as determined to prove his legacy by winning the election and finishing the things he started,” Sharpton added.

“I really think he sees himself now in historical terms, rather than in tomorrow’s newspaper or tonight’s TV program.”

The election is, as of this writing, 96 days away. As of Thursday, Harris — not yet the official Democratic nominee — had not yet named a running mate.