OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The White House has experienced an unusually high number of departures during President Joe Biden’s term, and recent reports highlight a notable turnover within First Lady Jill Biden’s office.
According to the Daily Mail, a top aide resigned from her position after escorting individuals to the secure floor of the hotel where President Biden was staying, which constituted a breach of security protocol.
In June 2022, Michael LaRosa, who is openly gay, joined the Bidens on their trip to the NATO Summit in Spain, as reported by the outlet. During the journey, a senior White House staff member observed that 40-year-old LaRosa breached security protocols on two occasions by inviting unauthorized individuals to his hotel room on a secure floor, a source said.
“Secret Service agents caught him twice bringing dates to a secure floor, obviously putting the First Lady’s safety at risk because you’re not supposed to bring people in who are not fully vetted,” the senior staffer reportedly said.
Elizabeth Alexander, Jill Biden’s communications director, has also taken a leave of absence to lead the “messaging arm” of President Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign.
“The move speaks to how Biden’s campaign is still taking shape, one week after he announced he would seek another term. The campaign announced only two staff hires on its first day: campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez and principal deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks,” Brookings reported.
Rory Brosius, who has been running the Joining Forces project, left her post earlier this month. Sheila Casey, the wife of former Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey, will be taking over for Brosius.
“As a young military spouse walking into the East Wing to intern for Joining Forces in August of 2012 to joining the Biden-Harris Administration on day one to stand up Joining Forces, this has been the journey of a lifetime,” Brosius said in her message.
On Thursday, meanwhile, Jill Biden said that her husband Joe Biden’s age isn’t a problem and that it should not prevent Americans from re-electing him later this year — despite his numerous gaffes, constant struggles to deliver a coherent sentence, or polling showing worries among voters that he is too old to hold office.
MSNBC “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski asked Jill on Thursday: “To those who say, ‘I can’t vote for Joe Biden, he’s too old,’ what do you say?”
“I say his age is an asset. He’s wise, he has wisdom, he’s experienced. He knows every leader on the world stage. He’s lived history, he knows history, he’s thoughtful in his decisions. He is the right man, the right person, for the job at this moment in history,” she claimed.
“He can do it. I see Joe every day. I see him out, traveling around this country, I see his vigor, I see his energy, I see his passion every single day,” she added.
Nevertheless, majorities of Americans polled over the past year, at least, have said they think the president is too old to run for a second term.
The country has watched as he struggles with words during speeches and falls several times, leading to questions about his cognitive abilities.
WATCH:
"I think what they are doing to Hunter is cruel."@FLOTUS Jill Biden opens up to @morningmika on @morning_joe about her son. https://t.co/3B8L0WAhYW pic.twitter.com/eeeU7sii4k
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 11, 2024
Earlier this week, a leading strategist for JPMorgan Chase said that Joe Biden will drop out of the 2024 race at some point before election day, suggesting that there are already plans in place for that to happen.
Michael Cembalest, who leads the financial giant’s market and investment strategy unit in JPMorgan Chase’s asset management division, believes Biden, 81, will leave the race “sometime between Super Tuesday and the November election, citing health concerns.”
Cembalest justified his prediction by citing Biden’s approval rating, especially for a president who can claim “around 10% job creation since his inauguration,” though much if not most of that was caused by Americans returning to the workforce after lengthy COVID shutdowns, which Cembalest noted in a forecast letter to investors and clients.
He didn’t predict who would take Biden’s spot but predicted it would be “a replacement candidate named by the Democratic National Committee.”
