The White House staff got the word out on Monday morning, 20 hours after President Joe Biden dramatically dropped out of the presidential race, but failed to acknowledge the frustration of learning the news along with the American public.
Chief of Staff Jeff Zients held a six-minute call with staff, which White House officials described as ‘rah rah’.
Zients praised the administration’s accomplishments so far and told staff there was still work to be done, according to recordings obtained by DailyMail.com.
But he didn’t admit that his staff didn’t pay attention to Biden’s decision.
Biden pulled the plug on his 2024 re-election bid on Sunday with an announcement about X, which covered most White House aides and campaign staff.
In the call, Zients was heard telling White House aides that Sunday was an ‘important day’ and that the Biden administration would be remembered ‘as one of the most effective and important presidents in American history.’
He said that beyond what the 81-year-old leader said on social media on Sunday, Biden’s message to his staff was that there was more work to be done.
Chief of Staff Jeff Zients addressed the entire White House staff during a 10 a.m. phone call Monday, 20 hours after President Joe Biden dramatically dropped out of the presidential race.
President Joe Biden was last seen in public on Wednesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware after testing positive for COVID-19. He isolated himself at his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
“Every time I’ve met with the president, and especially in the last 24 hours, he’s always emphasized that there’s more work to be done to get the job done,” Zients said.
Biden has been recovering from COVID-19 at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware home since testing positive while on the campaign trail in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
Only a few senior staffers had been alerted before Sunday’s announcement — that Biden would leave the race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris to take the position as the Democratic nominee.
Zients explained that it was an official White House call, meaning he was barred from talking about the campaign because of the Hatch Act.
“The White House counsel said there’s one thing I can’t say and that’s the next POTUS — the president of the United States — whoever he is,” Zients teased.
“I can say that the president has explained his future and I’ll let him speak for himself and I just want to thank Vice President Harris for his incredible leadership for three and a half years,” the chief of staff added. .
One aide told DailyMail.com late on Sunday that he felt ‘relieved.’ “Most people on the staff feel relief, gratitude, hope,” the source said.
President Joe Biden shared this letter to social media on Sunday, which is how many of the White House and campaign staff knew about his decision to pull the plug on his 2024 re-election bid.
Staff seen at the White House on Monday seemed withdrawn from the whole situation.
Zients said several times during the call that the White House staff should remain a team.
“So we’ve got to do what this team does so well, which is execute and finish,” he said at one point. ‘It’s important that we stay close as a team to get it done.’
At another point on the phone he said, ‘And I just love, love, love teamwork.’
“Everybody goes down, locks arms, gets their work done and they come back,” Zients said.
He encouraged his aides to ‘really focus on extraordinary execution over the next six months on behalf of the American people’
When he said they needed to ‘open though this together and finish this job.’