Biden's 2024 Campaign Takes Shape (BTN #18)
Biden Tracking Newsletter #18 Day 818 (4/17) through Day 824 (4/23)
President Biden speaking during a Presidential visit to Ireland earlier in April
This is the eighteenth edition of the Biden Tracking newsletter. This week we will focus on who President Biden plans to have on his 2024 presidential campaign, which reporting suggests he could officially launch as soon as Tuesday, April 25th. Other topics include news that the Biden Administration knew migrant children were forced to work and didn’t do anything about it, and the Biden Administration plan to get COVID vaccines, tests, and treatments to the uninsured. Today is Monday, April 24th, 2023, day 824 of the Biden Presidency.
If you’re interested in learning more about topics in my newsletter, everything underlined contains a link to a news article that goes into further detail on the subject.
Monday, April 17th (Day 818)
Biden Administration Knew Migrant Children Were Forced To Work
On Monday, the New York Times published an in-depth investigation into the Biden Administration’s handling of unaccompanied migrant children being forced to work after being sponsored. What they found was heartbreaking. Senior White House aids, including HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and senior advisor Susan Rice, were shown evidence of exploitation, such as clusters of migrant children who had been found working with industrial equipment or caustic chemicals. They did nothing. In response to the investigation, the White House said that while the labor department and HHS had passed along information about migrant child labor, the reports were not flagged as urgent and did not make clear the scope of the problem. The report also said that Susan Rice, when shown evidence of a growing number of unaccompanied migrant children, said: “What is leading to ‘voluntary’ separation is our generosity to UCs!” (Although not in the scope of this week's newsletter, Susan Rice is leaving the Biden Administration. Neera Tanden is being suggested as a replacement.)
Tuesday, April 18th (Day 819)
President Biden Unveils His Plan To Get COVID Vaccines to the Uninsured
On Tuesday, Politico reported on the Biden Administration's plan to guarantee free COVID vaccines, treatments, and tests for the uninsured into 2024. When the COVID-19 public health emergency ends on May 11th, these programs will need separate funding to continue. HHS has set aside as much as $1.1 billion for the program, and the hope is to keep these treatments free until at least the summer of 2024. This program is somewhat limited in scope, there are only about 30 million adults without health insurance. Insured Americans will not be supported by this funding.
Thursday, April 20th (Day 821)
President Biden’s 2024 Presidential Campaign Begins to Take Shape
On Thursday, several different outlets began reporting that the Biden team was planning to formally launch his reelection campaign this week. Early reports suggest that a video announcement could come as soon as Tuesday, April 25th, which would be the fourth anniversary of his 2020 campaign launch. The Washington Post is reporting that the Democratic Party has no plans to sponsor primary debates against Biden. Marianne Williamson and Robert Kennedy Jr have both announced they are primarying him.
Julie Chávez Rodriguez is expected to be Biden’s campaign manager. She is the granddaughter of Cesar Chavez. Previously, she has worked in several different official roles in the Obama Administration, she was a prominent member of Kamala Harris’s 2020 presidential campaign, she was Biden’s senior advisor for Latino outreach during his campaign, and, most recently, she was the director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.
Other members of the expected campaign include Quentin Fulks, Raphael Warnock’s 2020 campaign manager, who is expected to become the deputy campaign manager for President Biden. Currently, he is a senior advisor to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. Kevin Muñoz, the former assistant White House press secretary will likely be campaign spokesperson. Michael Tyler, who worked on Cory Booker’s 2020 presidential campaign and for the DNC, will likely become communications director.
Anita Dunn, who advised Harvey Weinstein during his sexual assault accusations, and who is a senior advisor to President Biden, has helped the President coordinate his reelection campaign and has helped conduct interviews for senior campaign roles. Jen O'Malley Dillon, who chaired the Democratic National Committee's Unity Reform Commission after the 2016 election, and was previously advising a venture capital firm founded by Bill Gates, has been in a similar role. She was also the manager of Beto O'Rourke's presidential campaign in 2020. Bruce Reed, the former CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council, which argued that the Democratic Party should shift away from the leftward turn it took in the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, as well as long-time Biden advisors Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti are also helping set up the campaign.
One of the most interesting potential campaign staffers could be TJ Ducklo. Ducklo was accused of making "derogatory and misogynistic comments" toward Politico reporter Tara Palmeri. Palmeri was writing an article about his relationship with NBC News journalist Alexi McCammond. Ducklo was the White House deputy press secretary but resigned in February 2021 due to the accusations. Biden’s former Press Secretary Jen Psaki, to Politico, said about Ducklo “When you screw up — and he did — you apologize and do better moving forward. He has done that…None of us want to be judged entirely by our worst days. He is thought of as one of the most talented press people out there who leads with his heart and has been in the foxhole from the beginning of the 2020 campaign and that means something in Biden world. As it should.”
Other News:
Bruce Reed, huh? And the usual gang of DNC denizens, I'm sure. Man, if we're anywhere near these folks' party in 2026, it'll be our own worst failure yet.