'They so rarely see him': Biden’s White House hasn’t had a full cabinet meeting in 9 months

11 July 2024

A new report reveals a stunning detail into the opaque nature of President Joe Biden's White House: Even his own cabinet secretaries admit to hardly ever seeing him.

CNN reported Thursday on how even the president's most stalwart supporters and major donors are worried about his apparent decline. Two unnamed sources "with direct knowledge" of Biden's interactions with his cabinet secretaries told the network that the 81 year-old is effectively "stage-managed" by his inner circle, and that meetings with the president and his full cabinet are rare and infrequent.

"The entire display is kind of an act," one source said. :They would come and say, 'Hey, the president is going to call on you about 25 minutes in, and ask this question. What are the bullet points you’ll respond with?'"

The network's second unnamed source said cabinet meetings were "not free-wheeling, and pretty well-orchestrated." And an unnamed cabinet secretary speaking anonymously told CNN that they are "uncertain" of the president's health because "they so rarely see him." The sources also said the full White House cabinet hasn't met all at once since October 2, 2023 (when the White House was aiming to avert a federal government shutdown). This is apparently a stark contrast from former President Barack Obama's cabinet meetings, which were "not pre-scripted" like Biden's.

Democratic donors voiced similar concerns at a California fundraiser. Last month in Los Angeles, Biden attended a Hollywood fundraiser that brought in $30 million for his campaign. Notably, Obama spoke more than Biden, which attendees found concerning given Biden's longtime reputation as a talker.

One unnamed "senior Democrat" who attended both the California event and a high-dollar New York City fundraiser with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Obama said there was "a marked difference in the president from the spring to the summer," and that the president was "just not the same."

"He was less cogent than usual," one Hollywood fundraiser attendee told CNN.

Senate Democrats recently held a meeting in Washington with Biden's top campaign staffers, though the details of that meeting so far remain unknown. That meeting comes as a steady drip of Democrats in Congress continue to publicly urge Biden to step aside and allow a younger Democrat to be the party's standard-bearer this November.

The president has scheduled a live press conference for 6:30 PM ET tonight, which will be carried by all major networks and notably comes just before most evening newscasts.

Click here to read CNN's full report.

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