Obama strategist reveals he discouraged Joe Biden from running in 2016: 'There’s no room for you'

WASHINGTON, DC: Long before Joe Biden made his way to the Oval Office, there was a moment when even his own party’s inner circle thought the timing just wasn’t right. 

According to a newly published interview, one of Barack Obama’s top strategists offered Biden a blunt reality check. The University of Virginia’s Miller Center released remarks from longtime Obama adviser David Plouffe, who recalled being tasked with discouraging Biden from running in the 2016 presidential election.

At the time, Biden was navigating personal tragedy after the death of his son, Beau Biden. Meanwhile, the Democratic field was already dominated by heavyweights Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

"What I would say is: ‘Listen, sir, first of all, I’m concerned about you as a human being. I’m not sure you’re in a state to run. But if this was six, seven months ago, it’s a different conversation. There’s no room. There’s just no room for you,’" Plouffe said.

The electoral math, as he laid it out, was equally unforgiving. "Iowa is a tough state for you. New Hampshire is a tough state for you, Bernie’s going to win. And South Carolina, Hillary’s going to clean up there. There’s just no room for you," he continued. "And by the way, Hillary’s not going to implode."

For good measure, Plouffe added that Sanders wasn’t about to collapse either.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders shut the door

Behind the scenes, however, not everyone in Biden’s orbit was ready to accept that reality. Plouffe described a small but persistent group encouraging Biden to jump in, leaning heavily on donor enthusiasm. The strategist quickly dismissed it as wishful thinking.

"I think he ultimately accepted it, but I think it was more a couple of people around him. They really got him stirred up because part of it was, ‘Well, donors are telling us to run.’ I’m like, ‘Well, I know these donors. Let’s talk about them.’ It was a couple guys in California. I’m like, ‘That’s not a campaign. I get that Hillary is struggling in this campaign vis-à-vis Bernie. That’s true. But there’s no room for you in part because of that. Bernie and Hillary both are guaranteed 80 percent of this electorate,’" Plouffe said.

He even pointed out an uncomfortable truth for Biden at the time. It was the fact that Clinton held stronger support among Black voters, a key Democratic bloc.

Plouffe’s view wasn’t that Biden lacked appeal altogether. In fact, he suggested Biden might have been a stronger general election candidate against Donald Trump in some respects, particularly when it came to voter trust. Still, none of that mattered without a viable path through the primaries.

"It’s like, Poor Joe. And my view is, listen, Biden’s career was over. Obama picked him to be vice president. And Biden was very clear he wasn’t going to run even before Beau [died]. But once Beau happened, of course, you’re like, there’s no way he’s going to run," Plouffe said.

By the time Biden even flirted with the idea, the race had effectively locked him out.

"By the time he [Biden] kind of kicked the tires on this, we were just fully developed, two incredibly strong, vote-getting candidates," he continued. "And Biden’s natural lane, White working-class, working union guys were kind of split between Sanders and Clinton, but they both had strong support."

Kamala Harris nomination draws internal criticism

Plouffe didn’t limit his reflections to 2016. He also took aim at more recent Democratic Party decisions, particularly the fallout from Kamala Harris securing the 2024 nomination without a traditional primary after Biden exited the race.

The move, he suggested, didn’t sit well with voters and may have weakened the party’s bottom line.

"It really bothered voters more than I thought it would and kind of undercut any kind of authority around the danger Trump posed," he said. "And by the way, all these Democrats, as they saw it, had covered up Biden. And so, you put that together, which is Kamala kind of being installed in there, and then the cover-up on Biden, as voters saw it. I mean, I don’t think the party has fully come to a full reckoning on that."

For Plouffe, the takeaway was straightforward.

"I don’t think we should belabor it, but I think every Democrat should obviously say, ‘Of course he shouldn’t have run. We know that now. A good president shouldn’t have run.’ And we should never again have a nominee that isn’t fully vetted by the voters and chosen by the voters," he insisted.