Top Democrats reportedly held secret meetings in 2023 to discuss withdrawing their support for Joe Biden as the party’s presidential nominee—and what they would do if he died in office. The startling claims, revealed in a new book by authors Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes about the final days of the Biden administration, also allege that Kamala Harris’ aides wargamed the possibility of the president dying on the campaign trail and even drew-up a “death-pool roster” of federal judges who would be willing to swear her in. “They wanted to make sure the party was ready for every possible circumstance,” the authors wrote. “If Biden launched his campaign and then stepped aside before the primaries; if he won a bunch of primaries and then could not continue. If he secured enough delegates for winning the nomination but dropped out before winning a floor vote at the convention, and if he left a vacancy at the top of the ticket after taking the nomination.” White House comms director Jamal Simmons masterminded the planning, a source claimed, and said that although knowledge of the plot never actually reached the former vice-president, “he advised colleagues that he should be notified immediately if something happened to Biden, because he had worked out an entire communications strategy,” which was handed to one of Harris’ top aides.
