Former President Joe Biden's 2024 campaign staffers scrambled to quickly roll out the then-president's announcement that he was dropping out of his re-election race on a Sunday afternoon in summer 2024. (Susan Walsh/The Associated Press)
"O’Malley Dillon called one of her deputies, Rob Flaherty, but he didn’t pick up," the book claims of that hectic Sunday afternoon. "He was walking in Wilmington’s Alapocas Run State Park with his wife, Carla Frank, who oversaw the campaign’s surrogate operation. The two were talking about the state of the campaign and speculating about what might happen if Biden did drop out. About midway into their hike, Frank started to scale a rock wall, and Flaherty looked down at his phone. He saw the missed call from O’Malley Dillon, swore, and called her back."
"In forty-five minutes, we’re going to post a letter and it says that he’s going to drop out," she told him. "You can’t tell anybody. Can you get to a computer?"
Flaherty said he could be at his computer in 30 minutes, but O'Malley Dillon needed him online sooner, according to the book.
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The book detailed that Flaherty did not have access to the campaign's social media accounts despite overseeing "the campaign’s digital efforts," and called on a 24-year-old staffer to assist with the massive announcement.
"Flaherty oversaw the campaign’s digital efforts but did not have access to the social media accounts," the book detailed. "He never actually posted from them. O’Malley Dillon asked if he had someone he trusted who could hit publish. Flaherty did. His name was Parker Butler, a twenty-four-year-old social media whiz. O’Malley Dillon approved, and Flaherty called Butler."
Former President Joe Biden did not endorse then Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor in the letter, but instead threw his support behind his vice president in a follow-up X post shortly thereafter. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Biden announced his departure from the race via the letter that was posted to his social accounts at 1:46 p.m. July 21, 2024.
BIDEN DENIES HE LEFT 2024 RACE TOO LATE TO STOP TRUMP, SAYS IT WOULDN'T HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE
"It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President," the letter read. "And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term."
Biden did not endorse Harris as his successor in the letter, but instead threw his support behind his vice president in a follow-up X post shortly thereafter.
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"2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America," was published Tuesday and authored by Josh Dawsey of the Wall Street Journal, Tyler Pager of the New York Times and Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post.
Biden's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on the book and its claims on Tuesday afternoon.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-campaign-tapped-24-year-old-social-media-whiz-post-presidents-dropout-letter-new-book-reveals