By Kelli Ballard
Was anyone really surprised when President Joe Biden announced he would not be running for a second presidential term? After the disastrous debate in June against former President Donald Trump, Democrats started demanding he withdraw from his re-election bid. At first, the commander-in-chief was adamant that he would continue his campaign. So what happened to change his mind? According to aNew York Postexclusive, Biden’s own party may have threatened him with the 25th Amendment.
The American Accountability Foundation, a right-leaning research firm, sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Thursday, July 25, requesting the House Judiciary and Oversight committees investigate whether the Democrats threatened a “palace coup” againstBidenif the president refused to step aside. “If the Vice President and members of the cabinet pressured President Biden to suspend his campaign under the threat of invoking the twenty-fifth amendment, it would represent one of the most consequential seizures of power in American government history,” the organization wrote in its letter.
Unnamed sources toldThe Postthat “[o]peratives at the very highest levels of the Democratic Party threatened President Biden with forcibly removing him from office unless he stepped down.” The insider claimed a “palace coup” was in place for weeks but Biden had been fighting it “every step of the way.” The whistleblower also mentioned the “anger, paranoia and frustration Biden displayed as the party elite circled around him and piled on the pressure.” The source also indicated that letting the president debate Trump was part of the “elaborate” plan to prevent his re-election campaign.
The Post’ssource claimed Democratic delegates will be strongly encouraged to back Arizona Senator and former astronaut Mark Kelly for president in August at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Currently, that doesn’t seem likely sinceKamala Harrishas received enough support to be nominated, but the vice president has not been a popular candidate. Just this week, articles of impeachment were filed claiming she covered up the president’s declining cognitive health and a resolution was signed by the House, including six Democrats, condemning the VP for her role as “border czar” and the illegal immigration crisis.
Is it a far-fetched idea that Democrats knew about Biden and his cognitive issues? Hardly. His decline did not happen overnight. It has been there for all to see in press conference after press conference. Mainstream media ignored it, but right-leaning outlets have been reporting on it for some time. The source toldThe Post“Democratic Party insiders have also known for at least two years how Biden was in decline.” The person added, “When I saw him a couple of years ago, it was frightening. He was just repeating slogans and had no idea who I was.”
Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, also called the way Biden stepped down a “coup” and the vice president hopeful took it further, saying if the president isn’t fit to run for office then he isn’t fit to remain in office. When asked if they thought it was a coup, Trump said “sort of,” while Vance replied, “Yeah, I think it is. I mean, look, there’s a constitutional process, the 25th Amendment. If Joe Biden can’t run for president, he can’t serve as president.”
The American Accountability Foundation’s letter to Johnson may not go any further, but it does raise some valid questions. How could no one – not a single Democrat, especially those working closely with Biden like Kamala Harris – miss such obvious cognitive issues? “The House of Representatives must act quickly using its power of investigation, subpoena, and contempt to determine what discussions members of the cabinet had regarding the application of the twenty-fifth amendment,” the organization stated in its letter. “Such a demand by the Vice President, and any supporters in the cabinet, would have unquestionably been extortion.”