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How Jill Biden became Joe's 'closest adviser' seen as responsible for keeping him in presidential race even after car-crash TV debate with Trump before she finally caved in to pressure from high profile Democrats calling for him to go
President Joe Biden finally caved to pressure to drop out of the presidential race after a closed door meeting with his tight inner circle of his wife Dr Jill Biden and their four closest advisers.
Joe, 81, was at his beach home on Sunday with Jill and their closest aides - chief strategist Mike Donilon, counselor to the president Steve Ricchetti, White House deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini, and Anthony Bernal, senior adviser to the first lady - when he announced his decision to decline the Democratic Party's nomination and offered his endorsement to his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
The First Lady, 73, has been hailed as Joe's 'closest adviser' and the 'only person who has ultimate influence with him', as well as a driving force in his decision to keep campaigning despite his ailing health.
She has spent the last few months trying to help Joe salvage his campaign by coming to his rescue at public events, including after his car-crash TV debate with Donald Trump last month that saw her escort the confused president off the stage.
Jill was accused by critics of 'elder abuse' and being a power-hungry wife and pushing her elderly husband to run for re-election so she can keep the White House lifestyle.
But despite his poor performance in the 90-minute TV contest, she went on to reaffirm the family's stance on his campaign, claiming Joe was 'the only person for the job' of commander-in-chief, and tried to rally support for him among Democrats.
Dr Jill Biden has loyally stood by her husband's side throughout his political career, acting as his 'closest adviser' and defending him in the face of public scrutiny. Joe and Jill Biden are pictured together in June last year
The First Lady, 73, has spent the last few months trying to help Joe salvage his campaign by coming to his rescue as his ailing health has taken center stage. She was seen escorting the confused President, 81, off the stage (pictured) last month following his car-crash debate with Donald Trump
Jill has stood by Joe throughout his decades-long political career, which saw him serve as a Delaware senator, Vice President to Barack Obama and now as commander-in-chief.
She was by his side at the beach house on Sunday, along with four of the couple's closest advisers, when Joe officially dropped out of the race, sources familiar with the situation have claimed.
Ricchetti and Donilon had brought with them devastating new data which would help to make up Joe's mind, DailyMail.com previously revealed.
They said the latest internal campaign polling, taken since the debate, showed he could no longer beat Trump.
Joe's decision was made soon after, and he asked Ricchetti and Donilon to start drafting a letter, and to begin the process of how to make a public announcement, DailyMail.com confirmed. The president also began telling his family.
He also made separate phone calls to Harris, White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, and his campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon to inform them of his decision, NBC reported - which analysts claim shows that his circled had 'tightened' in recent days to just his family, closest aides and longtime advisers.
Jill later issued a sign of support for his decision by posting two hearts as she retweeted his letter declaring he had dropped out of the race.
Elizabeth Alexander, Jill's communications director, claimed that even 'down to the last hours of the decision', the First Lady 'was supportive of whatever road he chose'. But Jill's role in the Joe's candidacy has come under serious scrutiny in recent months amid growing fears over Joe's age deterioration.
Analysts have claimed that she is one of Joe's 'top advisers' and can 'wield the most influence' over him.
'It's fair to call her Biden's closest adviser,' veteran Democratic political strategist Hank Sheinkop said of Jill earlier this month, telling the BBC: 'Family matters to him significantly and that makes Jill Biden's role even more important.'
Also among his closest confidants are the President's younger sister Valerie Biden Owens, 78, and 54-year-old son Hunter Biden, a crack addict, alcoholic and convicted felon whose scandals have dogged his father's long political career.
Jill has stood by Joe throughout his decades-long political career, which saw him serve as a Delaware senator, Vice President to Barack Obama and now as commander-in-chief. The couple are pictured together in the 1970s
On Sunday, Jill Biden issued a sign of support for his decision by posting two hearts as she retweeted his letter declining to accept the Democratic Party's nomination
Joe Biden announced his historic decision to step aside in a one-page letter posted to X on Sunday where he committed to completing his term, but did not fully endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement until a follow-up social media post
Jill particularly raised eyebrows especially after Joe's performance during his debate with Trump, 78, which saw him stumbling over his words and losing his train of thought several times.
The First Lady was seen carefully helping Joe off the debate stage before congratulating him for 'answering all the questions', which some observers criticized for the low bar he cleared.
A day after he struggled through the 90-minute contest, Jill admitted to supporters that her husband is 'not a young man', but said she only offered words of reassurance following the ordeal.
'After last night's debate, he said, 'You know, Jill, I don't know what happened. I didn't feel that great,'' she recalled, according to New York Times reporter Katie Rogers.
'I said, 'Look, Joe, we are not going to let 90 minutes define the four years that you've been president.''
Additionally, as fellow Democrats call on Joe to accept that he was too old to serve a second term, Jill remained firm on her stance, saying 'No' to the idea of her husband pulling out of the race.
'Joe isn't just the right person for the job,' she told donors New York last month. 'He's the only person for the job.'
First Lady Jill Biden helped her husband walk off stage in October 2023 after the couple gave keynote speeches at the Human Right's Campaign dinner
The First Lady rushed to his side in January, at the end of his first campaign speech of 2024, as he seemed to be completely zoned-out. Joe had just concluded his remarks when he turned to leave the stage only to have Jill rush up, take him by the hand and escort him off stage
Jill stayed close by her husband as the post-debate drama unfolded, campaigning with him in North Carolina, New York and New Jersey.
She then broke off for some solo campaigning before she reunited with him at the White House for the Fourth of July.
She stood in for him again two weeks on a swing through North Carolina, Florida and Georgia that was intended to rally support from veterans and military families but was also part of the Biden team's broader effort to try to steer the conversation back toward Trump.
She told the crowds she supported Joe's decision to stay in the race and reiterated that he has 'made it clear that he's all in'.
'That's the decision he's made. And just as he has always supported my career, I am all in too. I know you are too, or you wouldn't be here today,' she said at all three stops.
Amid the follow-out from the debate, Joe huddled with his family at Camp David and discussed his campaign, with his loved ones urging him to remain in the race.
Sources familiar with the family meeting alleged that Joe would only listen to Jill.
'The only person who has ultimate influence with him is the first lady,' the insider told NBC News at the time. 'If she decides there should be a change of course, there will be a change of course.'
In March this year, Jill had to emerge on stage and tug on a confused Joe's arm when he was seemingly about to plant a kiss on the cheek of another blonde woman - who, like Jill, has wearing a blue suit
It was also claimed that this time, however, Hunter was the one to speak up most fervently for his father, adamantly urging him to stay in the race.
The rest of the Biden family were more attempting to be supportive and wanted to know what they could do to help if the president kept going.
But Jill, whose former press secretary Michael LaRosa has claimed she is a powerful figure in Joe's tight circle of family members and senior advisers but is not a 'political decider', was met with extreme scrutiny for not telling him to step aside.
Some Republicans even went as far as accusing Jill of 'elder abuse.'
Married to Jill for 47 years, Joe has heavily on his wife as he battles to overcome doubts about his mental acuity.
She rushed to his side in January, at the end of his first campaign speech of 2024, as he seemed to be completely zoned-out.
Joe had just concluded his remarks when he turned to leave the stage only to have Jill rush up, take him by the hand and escort him off stage.
Jill has had to interject and come to Joe's rescue throughout his presidency, including once in March when she had to emerge on stage and tug on a confused Joe's arm when he was seemingly about to plant a kiss on the cheek of another blonde woman - who, like Jill, has wearing a blue suit.
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., with Jill Biden, gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill to announce his decision to withdraw as a candidate for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden walk along the beach at the Carbis Bay Hotel and Estate for the G7 welcome ceremony Friday, June 11, 2021 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England
She has also been quick to rally to her husband's side, sometimes physically.
During the 2020 presidential campaign, a man tried to cross into the roped-off area near Joe. In a flash, Jill crossed behind her husband and put her arms around the man, turned him around and helped push him away.
A month later in Los Angeles, she similarly blocked one protester, then a second one, who had stormed the stage while Joe was delivering his Super Tuesday victory speech.
Jill has frequently said that it took her some time to decide to marry Joe. The then-senator proposed to Jill five times before the couple married in 1977.
Joe's relationship with Jill began after his first wife and daughter died in a car crash that injured his two sons.
'I knew that whatever I chose my life would change forever,' Jill previously said of her decision to marry Joe. 'Of course I would no longer be single. But I would become the mom to two young boys, Beau and Hunter, overnight. And becoming a senator's wife would mean a life in the spotlight.'
She continued to support Joe throughout his career, but did play a key role in his decision not to run for president in 2004.
When a group of visiting political advisers sought to persuade then-Senator Joe to make a bid for the White House, his wife Jill sat poolside at their home, fuming.
Joe Biden and Dr Jill Biden are pictured together as he is sworn in as the 46th US President by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on January 20, 2021
Then-Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill attend the Southern Ball Jan. 20, 2009, on Capitol Hill in Washington
Finally, she took action and drew the word 'NO' in ink in large letters on her stomach and 'marched through the room in my bikini,' she wrote. He decided against running that time around.
The anecdote, laid out by Jill Biden in her 2019 autobiography, 'Where the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself,' makes plain that she hasn't always liked the idea of her husband running for president.
But she later came around to the idea and in 2016, when he was campaigning for the Oval Office, Joe told 60 minutes 'it was the right decision for the family'.
Jill has also been the first presidential spouse to work outside the White House.
Throughout her husband's presidency she has maintained her role as a professor of English and writing at Northern Virginia Community College, where she has taught since 2009.