Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, shortly after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection, accused former President Barack Obama of using "classic Chicago Democrat machine politics" to force out his one-time vice president.
"I've known Obama since 1995," Blagojevich posted on X. "We both come out of Chicago politics. I know how it works. He's behind the campaign to dump 15 million Dem primary voters & replace Biden with his choice."
And that, said Blagojevich, is the classic style of politics that puts "selection over election. The bosses over the people."
Late last week, Obama reportedly was telling allies that Biden needed to consider if his candidacy was still viable, considering the growing doubts about the 81-year-old president's age, health, and mental capacity to remain in office another four years.
The Washington Post, citing sources close to Obama, confirmed the reports and Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told Newsmax that the news confirms that the Democrats were "not even stabbing Biden in the back; they're stabbing him right in the chest."
Biden said at that point that he had not spoken with Obama in a few weeks, and Miller said that the Democrats were staging a "political coup" to get Biden out of the race.
Obama had remained quiet for three weeks after Biden's failed debate with former President Donald Trump in Atlanta when fears about the president's mental status sprung to life after Americans watched him appear stunned and confused in his answers.
However, Obama did post on social media that "bad debates happen," recalling his own troubled first debate with GOP contender Mitt Romney.
Behind the scenes, Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were speaking out about their doubts about Biden and his campaign, expressing concerns not only about his race, but with Pelosi also questioning if his candidacy would hinder down-ticket races and potentially cost Democrat leadership in the House and Senate.
And despite their much-publicized friendship, Biden has had cold feelings against Obama for almost a decade, after being pushed out of the 2016 presidential race — which ordinarily would have taken place with him as a vice president, in favor of Hillary Clinton, who Trump defeated.
Some of Obama's senior staff at the time urged Biden to sit out the race, and Biden, in his memoir, wrote that Obama "was not encouraging" about him running for office, reported The New York Times.
Biden, the report indicated, was furious about being bypassed in favor of Clinton after his loyalty to Obama for years.