Biden, 80, dropping out would NOT be a ‘total shock’: Biographer says president has ‘insecurities’ about ‘being perceived as stupid’ – and sparks more questions about his 2024 bid

It wouldn’t be a “total shock” if President Joe Biden ended his 2024 re-election campaign by the end of the year, noted a biographer with increased access to the White House.

Author Franklin Foer said on Sunday he discovered during his time with Biden and his inner circle that “one of the president’s main insecurities” is “that he doesn’t want to be seen as stupid.”

Biden, 80, announced his bid for a second term with Vice President Kamala Harris in late April – but questions emerged last year about whether the president is too old or too unfit to serve four more years .

Foer had “unprecedented access” to Biden and his inner circle in the first two years of his presidency, according to publisher Penguin Random House.

When asked on Sunday how he would react if Biden decided not to finalize his 2024 candidacy, Foer replied, “It would be a surprise to me. But that wouldn’t be a complete surprise.

“When he talks about his life, he constantly uses this word, destiny,” he added during an interview with Chuck Todd, the host of Meet the Press on NBC. “Joe Biden is a very religious man, and fate is a word loaded with religious meaning. And he always says, “He can’t tell where fate is going.” And so always, when I hear that, for me, it’s the ellipses in the sentence when he talks about his own future.

There are already two Democrats running distant candidates in the Democratic primary: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson. Both attended the Iowa State Fair last month to try to drum up support for an alternative Democratic candidate.

A poll from last week found that 77% of Americans are concerned about Biden’s age and his ability to serve a second term.

Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, 77, is also facing questions about his age.

If Biden or Trump were re-elected in 2024, they would set a new record as the oldest US president ever in office.

Although a candidate must be 35 to run for the White House, there is no cap. Presidential candidate Nikki Haley has suggested imposing an age limit of 75 to run for president. She also said mandatory mental proficiency testing would be a good idea.

Foer’s book, The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future, provides a comprehensive account of the president’s thinking and the activities of the Biden administration.

“There’s no need for Bob Woodward to understand that Joe Biden is old,” Foer told Todd on Sunday morning. “And I’m not a gerontologist and I can’t predict how Joe Biden will age in the next few years.”

“I think my book shows that…it’s buried in the details. He’s a very technocratic person, really obsessed with the intricacies of politics. He’s a very activist president in that he manages a lot of relationships in the White House,” Foer added.

Foer said in his NBC Sunday morning interview that Biden had “uncertainties” about being “perceived as stupid.”

He said the president still feels scarred by a plagiarism scandal from the 1980s and now remains passionate about being seen to be at the top of political debates.

“He’s someone buried in the details, he’s someone who’s very technocratically obsessed with political niceties,” Foer told Todd.

“He handles all transactions at the White House,” Foer added. “He has these insecurities that govern a lot of how he moves around the world. One of his main insecurities is that he doesn’t want to be perceived as stupid.

“So when he walks into a press conference, he wants to be in control of what he’s talking about. His preparation sessions can last a long time.