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By Rachel Dobkin
Weekend Reporter
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Former President Barack Obama is "working behind the scenes" to undermine President Joe Biden's reelection campaign, Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough said Thursday morning.
Democrats remain divided after Biden's shaky debate performance against former President Donald Trump last month. Some prominent Democrats, including several of Biden's colleagues on Capitol Hill, have called for the president to drop out of the presidential race and allow another Democrat to run for the party's nomination.
Biden has repeatedly vowed to stay in the race, telling ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an interview released last week that he will drop out only if God tells him to.
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On Thursday's show, Scarborough and his co-host and wife, Mika Brzezinski, implied that Obama encouraged actor George Clooney to write his recent New York Times op-ed calling for Biden to step down from his campaign.
"Are you saying that Barack Obama put him up to this?" Scarborough asked Brzezinski.
"I think that Barack Obama has a lot of influence, and I think that there's a lot there," Brzezinski responded.
"I will say the one thing that we do have to underline here, just so viewers can follow what's going on behind the scenes, is the Biden campaign and many Democratic officials do believe that Barack Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this," Scarborough said later in the show.
"And if Joe Biden believes that, that's not going to get him out of the race any faster."
Newsweek reached out to Biden's campaign and MSNBC via email and contacted The Office of Barack and Michelle Obama via an online form for comment.
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Their comments come as Politico reported that Clooney, a Democratic donor who has been a face of Biden's fundraising efforts, gave Obama a heads-up before the op-ed, "George Clooney: I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee," was published.
According to people familiar with the conversation, Obama did not encourage or advise Clooney to write the op-ed, but he also didn't object to it.
Obama has been a vocal supporter of Biden's reelection campaign, at least in the public eye, and a vital part of the president's fundraising efforts. Obama defended his former vice president's weak showing on the debate stage, saying, "Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know."
Speaking on the relationship between Biden and Democratic officials, Scarborough said on Thursday's episode of Morning Joe, "Joe Biden is deeply resentful of his treatment under not only the Obama staff but also the way he was pushed aside for Hillary Clinton [in the 2016 election]. He's deeply resentful of those trying to shove him out of the way. He's always felt like an outsider. Always felt like people have looked down upon him."
Biden is reportedly a loyal Morning Joe viewer and has a close relationship with Scarborough and Brzezinski.
The president called into the program on Monday to reiterate that he would not be quitting the 2024 race, saying that losing to former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, is "not an option."
"I haven't lost. I beat him last time. I'll beat him this time," Biden said.
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