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Renowned television news anchors Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes released an emergency episode of their Amy and T.J. Podcast Sunday (July 21) in response to President Joe Biden announcing his decision to end his re-election campaign.
Robach and Holmes provided a unique perspective on how Biden's announcement appeared to take the media by surprise as networks rushed to get their top anchors on the air as the story developed Sunday afternoon.
"This is a huge, probably the biggest political story that many of these political reporters have ever followed or covered," Robach said. "So when a big story is dropping like this, you know all the big guns, all the big three networks, you know, the anchors, they rush to the studios and they get in place and they take over the coverage because this is huge. This is what journalists live for these types of stories and when we turned on to each one of the networks none of the network stars were in place. No one was ready."
"It didn't seem like we were on standby, if you will, for this news to come," Holmes added.
Many of President Biden's staffers reportedly learned of his decision to drop out of the 2024 election from announcement on social media.
“We’re all finding out by tweet,” a source told Politico. “None of us understand what’s happening.”
Biden's decision to end his re-election campaign reportedly came within the 48 hours of his public announcement, a senior campaign adviser confirmed to CNN on Sunday.
Biden shared an official statement addressing Americans on his social media account.
"It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. 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 said. "I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision."
The president's decision came amid reports of uncertainty regarding his re-election campaign following a disastrous performance in the first presidential debate against former President Donald Trump, 78, last month. Biden, the oldest president in history, appeared opposite Trump on the debate stage for the first time since the 2020 election and did little to quell concerns about his vigor and energy.
The president appeared to struggle with his voice, clearing his throat and coughing multiple times, and was often seen open-mouthed and staring when Trump spoke, occasionally struggling to finish sentences. Biden's performance reportedly led to "panic" among Democrats, according to longtime Democratic operative and CNN senior political commentator David Axelrod, which was followed by several Democratic members of Congress calling for him to step down.