Behind the Curtain: Biden's haunting twin sins
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President Biden's post-presidency now looks as bleak as his brutal final months.
- Some top Democrats tell us they're so furious about Biden's abrupt, clumsy pardon of his son Hunter that they're threatening to withhold donations from his future presidential library.
- "If they had their sh*t together, they would have been doing the work on this over the summer — right after he announced he was stepping aside," one well-wired Democrat told us. "Now, it's just too late. Hopefully they are rightsizing their expectations and budget!"
Why it matters: Biden, 82, will limp away from the limelight — widely disliked by the public, and now loathed by many Democrats who blame him for twin sins of selfishness: running again, then pardoning Hunter after repeatedly saying he wouldn't.
Some in Biden's family have been shocked by the number of Democrats trashing his Hunter decision on the record, sources tell us. They expected some blowback — not a wicked backlash.
- But even Biden's best friends think it was nuts to pardon Hunter as a solo act on the same evening he left for a long-promised three-day trip to Africa.
Zoom in: As cover, the president could have pardoned President-elect Trump at the same time — or pardoned Hunter along with dozens of people whose convictions appear to result from injustices.
- The White House is considering "preemptive pardons to a range of current and former public officials who could be targeted" by the incoming Trump administration — potentially including Liz Cheney and Anthony Fauci, Politico's Jonathan Martin reported Wednesday.
- White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One, en route to Angola, that they can expect more pardons and clemencies "at the end of this term."
- A snap YouGov poll found 64% of Democrats approve of the pardon — a reversal of earlier Democratic sentiment. And Biden loyalists believe history will also credit Biden with his authentically historic legislative accomplishments, including gains on climate and other issues that Democrats had long fought for.
But the pardon uncorked the real rage that had been brewing among many powerful Democrats: his decision to wait so long to step aside. That kept Democrats from stress-testing potential nominees, and left Vice President Harris with a tiny window to make her case.
- To make matters worse, Trump is acting like a more public and present president even before he takes office.
Axios is told two very close aides — deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal, First Lady Jill Biden's top adviser — will take the lead on planning for a presidential library, likely in Delaware.
- A person familiar with post-presidency planning told us about potential backers closing their wallets: "No, that sentiment hasn't come up in a single donor conversation, and work is well underway."
- Former President Obama, as a two-termer, announced a foundation to raise money and plan for a library three years before leaving office.
What we're hearing: Some longtime Biden defenders just want his administration to end as soon as possible. They understand the party's anger — but also have sympathy for "the boss," as aides often call him.
- The timing of Hunter's pardon frustrated Democrats. Biden could have waited until closer to the inauguration. But he spared Hunter from going through sentencing for his convictions that had been scheduled for mid-December.
The long game: Democrats with potential presidential ambitions — including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis — used the pardon to start distancing themselves from Biden.
- Some Democrats believe that by 2028, presidential aspirants will be running away from Biden's legacy rather than embracing it.
The other side: Eric Holder, who was attorney general under Obama, tweeted just over half an hour after the Hunter Biden pardon was announced that no U.S. attorney "would have charged this case given the underlying facts. ... Pardon warranted."
- Former President Clinton defended Biden yesterday at the New York Times DealBook Summit: "I think that the president did have reason to believe that the nature of the offenses involved were likely to produce far stronger adverse circumstances for his son than they would for any normal person ... I wish he hadn't said he wasn't gonna do it. I think it does weaken his case."
- Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said on CNN that he urged Biden two weeks ago to issue the pardon: "He seemed to be a bit reticent about it."
What they're saying: Andrew Bates, White House senior deputy press secretary, told us that Biden "continues to deliver historic progress every day, and his legacy will benefit the American people for generations."
- Bates said that includes "leading us out of COVID with a steady hand, bringing American manufacturing home from overseas, taking the most significant action to fight climate change in human history, beating Big Pharma so Medicare can negotiate lower drug costs, saving lives with the most comprehensive gun reform in 30 years, and rebuilding our nation with the biggest infrastructure package in 70 years."
The bottom line: A Biden friend said the president seems older by the day — slower in walk, more halting in talk. White House aides working with him daily on implementing the agenda dispute that characterization.
- But to some Biden loyalists, his decline is a sad metaphor for his presidency: He started strong but will finish diminished.
Axios' Alex Thompson contributed reporting.
