Alex Thompson Profile picture
national political correspondent at @Axios. writing a book on Biden. alex.thompson@axios.com 202 684 6144 for text, Signal, Telegram
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Jul 21 9 tweets 4 min read
New: How Biden’s grudge against Obama over 2016 is fueling his 2024 resolve to stay in the race.

Several ppl close to Biden said they believe his bitterness toward Obama, and the Dems now trashing him, is making Biden more determined to continue

axios.com/2024/07/21/bid… If Obama directly pushed Biden to not to run, Biden aides told Axios it could make POTUS even more resolved to stay in the race

A former Biden aide said: "Obama already used that chit in 2016 when his team lobbied him against running. You don't get to do that more than once."
Jul 12 7 tweets 3 min read
New: Current and former Biden aides are worried that Biden is now surrounded by a shrinking group of "yes" men and women who block negative information from getting to him.

My look w/ @HansNichols at the small group of aides Biden is relying on more

axios.com/2024/07/12/bid… Since the debate, Biden is relying even more on longtime advisers Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti, and Bruce Reed — a trio sometimes referred to inside the WH as "the poobahs," "the grey hairs" and, less often, "the triumvirate."

They are as close to family as staffers can get.
Jul 11 5 tweets 3 min read
Re: the growing criticism of biden, the Clooney op-ed etc, Morning Joe says:

“The Biden campaign and many Democratic officials do believe that Barack Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this” Despite repeated WH denials of any Obama-Biden tension and the public bromance displays, Biden friend Joe Scarborough says:

"Joe Biden is deeply resentful of his treatment under not only the Obama staff but also the way he was pushed aside for Hillary Clinton"
Jul 7 7 tweets 2 min read
Scoop: A look at the template that the WH sends to staffers organizing events for POTUS.

"I staffed a simple fundraiser at a private residence, but they treated it like it was a NATO summit with his movements," a person who staffed a Biden event said.
axios.com/2024/07/07/bid…
Image Since the debate, some Dems who've attended and helped set up Biden events have wondered whether his team's focus on minute details were to obscure POTUS's limitations — rather than just a reflection of a meticulous staff.
Jun 29 6 tweets 2 min read
New: Inside the White House, there are sometimes two Biden’s.

America saw the other one Thursday night.

My look inside the WH and why Thursday left some Biden aides shaken and worried whether Biden can do another four-year term.

axios.com/2024/06/29/two… From 10am to 4pm, Biden is dependably engaged — and many of his public events in front of cameras are held within those hours.

Outside of that time range or while traveling abroad, the other Biden is more likely to emerge and have verbal miscues and become fatigued, aides say.
Jun 28 5 tweets 2 min read
New: internal finger pointing begins starting w/ Biden’s debate prep team.
"He was over-prepared and relying on minutiae when all that mattered was vigor and energy," one person in Biden's orbit told Axios. "They prepared him for the wrong debate”

axios.com/2024/06/28/bid…
Image "It's sad but it also makes me so mad to think of all the smart people lying and trying to make this work," a former Biden White House official told Axios.

“Disaster” a former admin official said.

“DEFCON 1,” said David Plouffe.

W/ @HansNichols
Jun 19 13 tweets 4 min read
New: Dems, including some Biden aides, are increasingly dubious about the theory for victory focusing on Jan. 6/democracy.

"Even for those close to the center, there is a hesitance to raise skepticism or doubt…for fear of being viewed as disloyal”
axios.com/2024/06/19/bid…
Image A Dem strategist in touch with the campaign told Axios: "It is unclear to many of us watching from the outside whether the president and his core team realize how dire the situation is right now, and whether they even have a plan to fix it. That is scary."
Jun 1 6 tweets 2 min read
Exclusive: Hunter Biden has quietly been in a messy civil case for unpaid alimony to his ex-wife Kathleen Buhle, per court docs.

In 2021, the court determined he owed Buhle $1.7+ million
By April 2023, her team said he owed her $2.9 million
axios.com/2024/06/01/hun… Buhle is likely to testify in Hunter Biden's two trials about his addiction and finances

Hunter's myriad legal problems and debts have led his allies to reconsider starting a legal fund for him, despite concerns by Biden aides about the political optics of it.
May 13 8 tweets 3 min read
New: Psaki wrote in her new book Biden didn’t check his watch during ceremony for the Abbey Gate soldiers

It was “misinformation,” she wrote, contradicting news photos & the Gold Star families

Psaki initially didnt comment but says it will be corrected
axios.com/2024/05/13/psa…
Image Psaki’s full statement to Axios this AM:

“the detail in a few lines of the book about the exact number of times he looked at his watch will be removed in future reprints and the ebook.” Image
Apr 1 8 tweets 3 min read
New: Trump allies plot anti-racism protections — for white people

Trump's close allies want to dramatically change the government's interpretation of Civil Rights-era laws to focus on "anti-white racism" rather than discrimination against ppl of color.
axios.com/2024/04/01/tru… Trump's DoJ would push to eliminate or upend programs in government and corporate America that are designed to counter racism that has favored whites (DEI, etc.).

The Trump campaign's Steven Cheung told Axios: "Joe Biden has continued to push unlawful civil rights abuses ... As President Trump has said, all staff, offices, and initiatives connected to Biden's un-American policy will be immediately terminated."
Mar 27 4 tweets 2 min read
New: Biden and Dems (mostly) have ditched “Bidenomics” while congressional Republicans are using it more than ever.
Biden said it for the first time in over two months yesterday & has been saying it less & less for months
W/ @HansNichols @StefWKight
axios.com/2024/03/27/bid…
Image "Bidenomics" mentions by congressional Dems dropped during the fall and now have nearly disappeared.

R’s can't stop saying it: They've used "Bidenomics" nearly 500 times this month in their public statements, per data from Quorum. Image
Mar 12 5 tweets 2 min read
New: my write-up of the Biden transcript.
Biden repeatedly asked for help remembering important dates w/ lawyers stepping in
"When did I announce for President [in 2019]?,"
"If it was 2013 — when did I stop being vice president?"
"In 2009, am I still vice president?"
"Trump gets elected in November of 2017?"
axios.com/2024/03/12/bid… Twice on the same day, Biden struggled to find the words for "fax machine."

"You see where there's a printer and there's a–what do they call it, the machine that–?" he asked until WH counsel Ed Siskel offered up "fax machine" in both instances.
Feb 8 22 tweets 8 min read
Thread: Hur report includes many photos of Biden's handling of classified docs.
Hur writes that Biden's practices "present serious risks to national security" and that Biden "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency"
axios.com/2024/02/08/rob…



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Hur writes: "Because the box was damaged and not able to properly package classified material, the agents transferred its contents to a new box for transport. The photographs below show the contents ofthe garage box in the original box and in the new box" Image
Feb 4 7 tweets 2 min read
New: Biden's team is bracing for the report from special counsel Hur on his handling of classified documents

Biden aides don't expect criminal charges, but they believe Hur's report will include embarrassing details — possibly with photos
axios.com/2024/02/04/bid… Hur, a former U.S. attorney nominated by Trump in 2017 and a former clerk for conservative Chief Justice William Rehnquist, is required to write a report about the investigation and Merrick Garland has committed to releasing as much as he can publicly.
Jan 5 10 tweets 3 min read
New: Inside the WH podium battle
KJP and Kirby's relationship is fraught
Tensions over who gets how much podium time
Kirby has expressed frustration that KJP insists on picking the reporters while he's briefing
Relations b/t KHP & Dalton also bumpy
more
axios.com/2024/01/05/whi… Kirby has told people he'd like to be press sec one day.
KJP has told people she plans to stay in the job through the election and beyond if Biden wants her — and that he has asked her not to leave
A WH official said Kirby never volunteers that he would like to be press sec.
Nov 5, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
A generic, unnamed Democrat fares 13 points better than Biden against Trump in swing states, per new NYT poll.
Kamala Harris does better than Biden too.
My quick write up of the poll
axios.com/2023/11/05/tru…
Image Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for Biden's re-election, told Axios that "predictions more than a year out tend to look a little different a year later. Don't take our word for it: Gallup predicted an eight point loss for President Obama only for him to win handedly a year later."
Sep 26, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
.@ivanas26 and I on Hunter’s latest lawsuit, this one against Giuliani for what his lawyers say is violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
The latest instance of the more aggressive approach under Abbe Lowell.
axios.com/2023/09/26/hun… The lawsuit accuses Giuliani and attorney Robert Costello of allegedly "hacking into, tampering with, manipulating, copying, disseminating, and generally obsessing over data that they were given that was taken or stolen from Plaintiff's devices or storage platforms, including what Defendants claim to have obtained from Plaintiff's alleged 'laptop' computer."
Aug 29, 2023 6 tweets 2 min read
Scoop: Longtime Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio sent a memo to donors/allies today w/ his internal Iowa/NH numbers.
Haley "has surged," he wrote
DeSantis "has flatlined"
Trump steady
axios.com/2023/08/29/tru…
Image Fabrizio: "The much hoped for DeSantis 'bounce' was really a 'dead cat bounce' in that it doesn’t exist. Why? Because these voters didn’t see a DeSantis debate win – far from it. With Haley’s surge, DeSantis finds himself with another challenger for a distant 2nd place besides Ramaswamy – Nikki Haley."
Aug 19, 2023 6 tweets 2 min read
New: Several top GOP donors are panicked about their current choices and holding back 2024 money with the long-shot dream of luring in an alternative w/ Youngkin and Kemp getting secret overtures
w/@BarakRavid breaking news his first weeks here
axios.com/2023/08/19/gop… Youngkin said any decision would come after what he hopes will be big GOP wins in November's legislative races in Virginia.
The problem: he’d miss filing deadlines for states.
Nevada: October 16th
South Carolina: October 31st
And many other states are early November.
Aug 4, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
New: “Dark Brandon” merch is powering the Biden campaign’s webstore

54% of the store's total revenue is coming from Dark Brandon-themed products, per campaign

The "Dark T-Shirt" & "Dark Roast Mug" are the best-sellers of the 43 items for sale

https://t.co/OndDbsmO9Zaxios.com/2023/08/04/dar…

Image
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The Biden team has 8 Dark Brandon-themed products in the store, including a crop top, stickers, and white and navy baseball caps.

Those products alone have accounted for 44% of all store orders and driven nearly 76% of all clicks onto the website, per the campaign.

The crop top Image
Jul 25, 2023 6 tweets 3 min read
Scoop: This staffer didn't just retweet the video.
He secretly made the video w/ the Sonnenrad, per a person familiar.

It was then shared through @desantiscams where the staffer retweeted it. The video was later deleted it but here it is.
My story
https://t.co/DJdy71DzwD https://t.co/Tutp4lM4Onaxios.com/2023/07/25/des…

The video ends with an image of DeSantis in the center of Florida's state seal — which then morphs into a rotating Sonnenrad, an ancient symbol appropriated by the Nazis and still used by some white supremacists. Image