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Former CNN Analyst Cillizza Reveals Why Biden Is Leaving DNC Way Early

By Updated: ELECTION 2024

President Joe Biden will be giving a headliner speech at the Democratic National Convention on its opening night on Monday, but he’s not sticking around to watch his vice president, Kamala Harris, formally be nominated later this week. Former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza speculated that Biden’s frustration with having been forced out of his reelection bid is driving his decision to leave the DNC right after his speech.

Biden is scheduled to address the convention on its first night before heading to a vacation in California, as reported by The Washington Post. Cillizza pointed out that Biden is speaking on “the least desirable night” and suggested that the president’s anger stems from the pressure to withdraw from his reelection campaign, which he views as an unsatisfactory end to his decades-long political career.



“I know the storyline coming out of that July 21st announcement was that he did what was good for the country, he put country over party. Sort of. I think it’s really important to be transparent about what happened,” Cillizza said. “Joe Biden had a terrible debate; it was clear he was not going to be able to win the race…And then he dropped out. And he dropped out because he was under massive pressure to drop out.”

“The party has rapidly moved on. That’s not an easy thing for Joe Biden to deal with, right? All of a sudden, he was losing the race and now Kamala Harris is winning the race. Democratic base voters were totally unenthused about him and now they’re super enthused,” he added. “If you are a human being, you understand why that would be difficult to grapple with. Joe Biden has been in politics since the early 1970s — 50 years. This is not how he wanted the last chapter of that book to go. He did not want the last chapter, one of the last big speeches he gives, to be on the first night of the Democratic National Convention and he is pissed because he feels as though he was pushed.”

Cillizza noted that Biden is unlikely to reveal his anger during his speech at the DNC. “I do think it is telling that Joe Biden, after he gives the speech on Monday night, will leave Chicago, not participate in any more of the convention and go on a vacation in California … It’s hard to get further away, right? … There’s symbolism there, right? He was pushed out,” he added.

“He has spent the last three weeks, or month, watching a person who he did not think was capable of winning this presidency surge on the back of excited Democrats who were very unexcited with Biden. That’s a hard pill to swallow; it just is, and I think it’s okay to acknowledge it,” Cillizza continued. “Joe Biden is pissed. He wanted his legacy to end differently. Doesn’t mean he won’t give a good speech tonight, doesn’t mean he will not be roundly applauded, which he will,” he said.

“But I think it’s really important to note he’s a human being, and what has transpired over the last two months is really, really, really difficult. And the fact that he’s shuttling out of the convention on Monday night after he gives the speech is super, super telling.”

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Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.