Joe Biden’s former boss has been expressing some real fear that the current President will lose his reelection bid against Donald Trump. Barack Obama has said that he has “grave concern” that Biden could lose in November and is doing everything he can to help. The New York Times was the first to report on Obama’s worries.
According to the Times, Obama has been in constant contact with White House Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zients and other top aides to offer advice and strategy insights ahead of November. He also talks with Biden regularly about the election or family matters.
A White House aide told the Times that Obama has “always” worried about Biden’s re-election odds. Obama actually discouraged Biden from running for President in the past, according to Biden’s memoir “Promise Me, Dad,” and considered former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be the stronger candidate.
Though he has always backed Biden in private, Obama has been more hesitant to do so publicly, waiting until after the 2019 Democratic primary to formally endorse Biden. This, the publication wrote, stems back to a rocky beginning for their relationship in the Obama White House.
Obama “took time to warm to Mr. Biden” at the start of his 2009 presidency, the NYT says. Biden reportedly struggled with being second in command “from the moment he joined the ticket” and was often aggravated by Obama’s “elite and Ivy-educated” team.
Obama may be justified in his fears. President Biden’s approval rating now sits at 38%, which is just one point higher than his lowest rating of all time, according to a recent Gallup poll. This figure is lower than the last three presidents who lost re-election, those being Donald Trump (48%), George H.W. Bush (43%) and Jimmy Carter (54%).