Joe Biden had to withdraw from the US presidential race late last week after threats by high-ranking Democrats to forcibly remove him from office - the New York Post (NYP) reports, citing unnamed sources.
The well-orchestrated "palace coup" has been in place for weeks, with Biden fighting it "every step of the way," the sources claimed, referring to "anger, paranoia and frustration" allegedly shown by the 46th US president, as the party elite piled pressure on him.
The top Democrats had threatened to invoke the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution to stop Biden from seeking re-election, the insiders argued, recalling that the document authorizes the vice president, and members of the Biden administration, to declare the president unfit for service.
According to the insiders, part of the "elaborate" strategy to remove Biden from the presidential race involved permitting him to debate Republican candidate and former US President Donald Trump last month.
"That debate was a set-up to convince Democrats that he (Biden) couldn’t run for president," one source insisted. POTUS’ disastrous performance during the 90-minute event shocked many in his party, prompting them to urge the 81-year-old to withdraw from the race.
In the wake of the debate, POTUS’ son, Hunter Biden, suddenly became more involved in his father’s day-to-day business, insisting on attending every official and unofficial meeting, per the insiders.
With Biden already endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, the party members “will be strongly encouraged” to instead support Arizona senator and former astronaut, Mark Kelly, for president at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago slated for August, the sources added.