The first family and Joe Biden’s close aides have carefully shielded him from people inside and outside the White House since the beginning of his presidency.
The intermittent access has resulted in many current and former White House aides being shocked at the 81-year-old president’s limitations at the debate Thursday night.
Current and former White House aides are feeling whiplash — and now questioning whether Biden could fulfill a second term.
Biden’s behavior stunned many in the White House in part because Biden’s closest aides — often led by Jill Biden’s top aide, Anthony Bernal, and deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini — took steps early in his term to essentially rope off the president.
Even the White House’s residence staff, which serves the first family in the mansion’s living quarters, has been kept at arm’s length.
A former residence official told Axios that Jill Biden was “so protective of the president, and then Anthony just protects her, and they often wouldn’t let us do anything for them.”
