Playbook Deep Dive

Anita Dunn on why Joe Biden really dropped out

Episode Summary

Anita Dunn left her position as a senior advisor to president Joe Biden this week, marking the end of an era for the White House. She was a key architect of his 2020 presidential campaign and one of his closest advisors throughout her tenure. On this episode of Deep Dive, Dunn joins host and Playbook co-author Ryan LIzza to talk about the extraordinary series of events that lead to Biden dropping out of the presidential race, including: the pivotal decision to call for a June debate with Trump; what Dunn was thinking as she watched Biden struggle through the event; the strategy she and her colleagues developed to fight the calls for Biden to step aside; Biden’s final days as the nominee; the new electoral opportunities now available to Harris and a lot more.

Episode Notes

Anita Dunn left her position as a senior advisor to president Joe Biden this week, marking the end of an era for the White House. She was a key architect of his 2020 presidential campaign and one of his closest advisors throughout her tenure. 

On this episode of Deep Dive, Dunn joins host and Playbook co-author Ryan LIzza to talk about the extraordinary series of events that lead to Biden dropping out of the presidential race, including: the pivotal decision to call for a June debate with Trump; what Dunn was thinking as she watched Biden struggle through the event; the strategy she and her colleagues developed to fight the calls for Biden to step aside; Biden’s final days as the nominee; the new electoral opportunities now available to Harris and a lot more. 

Ryan Lizza is a Playbook co-author for POLITICO.
Anita Dunn is a former adviser in the Biden Administration.
Kara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO audio. 
Alex Keeney is a senior producer for POLITICO audio.