MSNBC host and former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reacted live on Sunday during her show, “Inside with Jen Psaki,” to President Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 race.
“There’s very little indication from people close to him and many people in the campaign that this was about to happen, as much as there were reports of Democrats calling on him to do that,” she said after reading the letter posted to X by the president.
The president announced on Sunday that he will “stand down” from the 2024 race, following many calls from prominent Democrats.
“I don’t think either of us had any indication,” Psaki said to her guest, The Bulwark’s Tim Miller. “And I am always a believer that you have to share with the public what you know, and what you don’t know. We knew that there were lots of calls, but we had not been given any official indication, even as of 10 minutes ago, that decision had been made. I even spoke with Keisha Lance Bottoms earlier this hour, and asked her if she had any indication, and she is a senior adviser, and she had not.”
MSNBC host and former Biden press secretary reacts live to President Biden’s decision to drop out. (Screenshot/MSNBC)
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“I am digesting this myself here, because I worked for him for a year and a half, and he is a remarkable person, a remarkable president. He has had such a tremendous presidency where he has overcome the odds and defied people’s expectations. People didn’t think he could pass an infrastructure bill, they didn’t think that he could lead through COVID, they didn’t think he could pull the countries together,” Psaki added.
She also appeared to start getting choked up.
“He did all of those things and will continue to do those things and also, is a deeply good human being, and I am digesting this myself. I just want to share that,” Psaki said.
President Joe Biden at the White House on December 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Biden endorsed Vice President Harris as the presidential nominee shortly after his initial statement.
Biden, in a lengthy letter posted to social media, touted his progress and said he would speak more about his decision later in the week.
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“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,” Biden wrote in a public letter. “While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”