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Two Biden Administration Senior Officials Depart From White House

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


President Joe Biden’s White House has lost two “day one” officials in the span of three weeks, with one being referred to as one of the president’s “killers.”

Remi Yamamoto, a senior official who has been in the Biden administration since the beginning of its campaign, is set to leave. She served as senior adviser for communications to White House chief of staff Ron Klain, who stepped down in January.

“From the very start of the campaign, Remi has been unflinchingly loyal and extraordinarily capable,” Biden said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Her insights, good humor, and work ethic have been an incredible asset to all of us, and I am grateful for her service and friendship.”

A few weeks ago, White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield stepped down from her role.

When she made the announcement during a White House press briefing, Bedingfield took a swipe at former President Donald Trump, who had referred to her as one of President Biden’s “killers.”

“And finally, there is a bittersweet day for us — a bittersweet moment for the Communications and Press teams and all of us of here at the White House. I’ve gotten to know Kate Bedingfield as a colleague and a friend, being in the trenches together and representing the President’s agenda together,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at the time when announcing Bedingfield would be stepping down.

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“I understand that after a certain previous occupant of this White House, whose name will be nameless, but — as you know who this person is — he got angry and yelled and said, quote, ‘Biden has a team of killers.  All I’ve got — all I’ve got is a defense,’” KJP said. “Okay, that was in the campaign.  That was — the campaign communications team started calling Kate and the captain — the captain of the Team [of] Killers.”

In the last month or so, Biden’s chief of staff (Klain), communications director (Bedingfield), and one of his “day one” officials (Yamamoto) have all departed.

Biden got another round of horrible news last week after a string of polls found that voters do not want him to run for re-election in 2024.

A brand new Yahoo News/YouGov poll found that a majority of registered voters believe Biden is “too old for another term” in office. Almost seven out of 10 voters (68%) admitted that the 80-year-old president’s age is a problem for them.

Even worse, the poll shows more Democrats agree rather with that assessment. Roughly 48% of Democrat voters said Biden’s age is an issue, with just 34% saying the president’s age was not a concern for them.

The New York Post detailed more of the findings from the poll: “Eighteen percent of Democrats polled were not sure if Biden was too old for another term. Already the oldest president in US history, Biden would be 86 by the end of his second term if he were to win re-election in 2024. A majority of independents, 71%, also said that age 82 was too old to start a second term as president, which is how old Biden would be on his second Inauguration Day. Biden has not formally declared that he will run for a second term but he has said on several occasions that he intends to seek re-election.”

In early February, an AP-NORC poll found that Biden only has support from 37 percent of Democrats for a second term. Prior to the midterms last November, the same poll found that 52 percent wanted Biden to run again in 2024.

“While Biden has trumpeted his legislative victories and ability to govern, the poll suggests relatively few U.S. adults give him high marks on either. Follow-up interviews with poll respondents suggest that many believe the 80-year-old’s age is a liability, with people focused on his coughing, his gait, his gaffes, and the possibility that the world’s most stressful job would be better suited for someone younger,” the Associated Press reported.

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The AP report added:

Overall, 41% approve of how Biden is handling his job as president, the poll shows, similar to ratings at the end of last year. A majority of Democrats still approve of the job Biden is doing as president, yet their appetite for a reelection campaign has slipped despite his electoral track record. Only 22% of U.S. adults overall say he should run again, down from 29% who said so before last year’s midterm elections.

The decline among Democrats saying Biden should run again for president appears concentrated among younger people. Among Democrats age 45 and over, 49% say Biden should run for reelection, nearly as many as the 58% who said that in October. But among those under age 45, 23% now say he should run for re-election after 45% said that before the midterms.

Biden has said he intends to run for re-election but has yet to make any formal announcements.

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