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- Sources close to the White House say that Joe Biden is overly insulated by a close group of advisors.
- Anonymous sources told Politico that information is carefully curated before being presented to him.
- The sources accused Biden of being difficult to please, and that "people are scared shitless of him."
As new explanations pop up to explain President Joe Biden's poor showing in the presidential debate last Thursday, a group of Democrats and White House staffers have pointed the blame at the people helping to run the house.
Speaking to Politico, anonymous sources close to the White House revealed that Biden is cloistered and insulated by his closest aides, which has isolated him from the rest of his party.
That group of aides includes Biden's senior advisor, Anita Dunn; her husband, Bob Bauer, Biden's personal attorney; and Biden's former chief of staff, Ron Klain, among others.
A senior administration official told Politico: "He doesn't take advice from anyone other than those few top aides, and it becomes a perfect storm because he just gets more and more isolated from their efforts to control it."
Politico's sources added that the aides feed him information and advice that he will react well to and block out the rest.
One source close to Biden's campaign told Politico: "If I'm talking to Anita, and I say, 'what about X?' She's quick to say, 'The president's not going to do that. No chance.'"
A separate Politico source said that people who express dissent tend to not be invited to the next call or meeting.
A senior administration official Politico spoke to also accused Biden of being unpleasant to be around when he's being briefed. Staffers work hard to curate the information for briefings in a way that will not set him off.
"It's like, 'You can't include that, that will set him off,' or 'Put that in, he likes that,'" the official told Politico. "It's a Rorschach test, not a briefing."
"It's very difficult, and people are scared shitless of him," the official added.
The White House denied the claims that Biden is "isolated," telling Politico that he regularly gets input from multiple sources and has eight to 10 people in briefings.
Others have criticized Biden's top aides
The anonymous staffers are not the only ones assigning blame to Biden's top advisors.
Democratic megadonor John Morgan echoed these sentiments, telling Politico he thinks the president has a "cabal" of close aides.
"I think he has misplaced trust in these three people, and I believe he has from the inception," Morgan told Politico.
Morgan also took to X on Sunday to express his displeasure with the aides.
"Biden has for too long been fooled by the value of Anita Dunn and her husband. They need to go… TODAY," he wrote.
Biden's family members have also pinned the blame for his bad debate showing on his inner circle, saying they failed to prepare him adequately to go on the offensive, per an earlier report by Politico.
Representatives for Biden didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.
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