Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from producer Raymond Rapada. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren A group of aides hired to reelect President JOE BIDEN is breaking with him on the conflict between Israel and Hamas. In a letter first shared with West Wing Playbook, 17 current Biden campaign staffers called directly on the president to push for a permanent ceasefire in the monthslong conflict. “As your staff, we believe it is both a moral and electoral imperative for you to publicly call for a cessation of violence,” the staffers wrote in the letter, which was anonymously signed and posted on Medium. “Complicity in the death of over 20,000 Palestinians, 8,200 of whom are children, simply cannot be justified.” The staffers also urged the president to end unconditional military aid to Israel and advocated for a deescalation in the region, including the release of hostages. The letter is the latest example of internal rifts not just within the Democratic Party but within the Biden operation over how to approach the conflict. Since the fall, a flurry of protest letters — often written without names attached — have urged the president to support a ceasefire. In November, 500 political appointees and staff members from 40 government agencies anonymously signed one letter, while another letter included the names of over 500 alumni of Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. White House interns also sent a letter to the president and staffers on Capitol Hill have also sent similar letters to their bosses. Biden supporters have raised questions about the veracity of those numbers, noting that the anonymity makes it impossible to confirm. A campaign official said they could not comment on a letter the campaign had not yet received. But the person added: “When it comes to President Biden’s position, he has been unequivocal: Israel has a right and obligation to defend its people after the October 7 terrorist attack.” “He also knows the importance of earning the trust of every community, which is why he is working closely and proudly with leaders in the Jewish, Muslim and Palestinian communities in America,” the official said. The letter was organized by campaign staffers. Five of them confirmed the authenticity of the letter to West Wing Playbook. Those staffers, who were granted anonymity because of their concern of backlash, said they were motivated to organize their letter out of a sense of moral responsibility. They also fear the president’s stance — which has been to push Israel to be more mindful of humanitarian concerns and more surgical in its military campaign, all while rejecting a ceasefire — could affect his standings with voters. They stressed that although they disagree with the president’s approach, their pushback comes from a place of “tough love,” as one staffer put it. “That’s what motivated us to do this,” a second staffer said. “There’s this disconnect in the type of man that he is, and we think him calling for a ceasefire will set things straight and show the world what kind of man he is.” Prior letter-writing efforts by anonymous aides have been criticized by party operatives, who say the job of working for a politician means backing their positions, even when you disagree. The notion that aides would agree with every position a politician is taking, they have noted, is not based in reality; nor is it the way that politics work. But Biden’s handling of the conflict has clearly frustrated many voters that he needs to win his reelection. According to a CBS News/YouGov poll from December, 61 percent of Americans disapprove of his approach. “We’re reaching this point of no return where, as we’re working to get voters to support the president,” a third staffer said, describing the situation. “It’s getting harder and harder to vote for him when they’re so disillusioned by his handling of this conflict.” In the letter, the staffers write that they’ve seen “volunteers quit in droves.” “It is not enough to merely be the alternative to Donald Trump. The campaign has to shift the feeling in the pits of voters’ stomachs, the same feeling that weighs on us every day as we fight for your reelection. The only way to do that is to call for a ceasefire,” the letter reads. Staffers told West Wing Playbook they’re still optimistic Biden can adjust his approach to the conflict. “We all hold hope that the person we work for and the person we joined the campaign for has time to change course,” said the third staffer. Some staffers said that their boss’ own words were, in part, what motivated them to take action. Three people pointed to a 2021 speech that Biden gave at the dedication of a human rights center at the University of Connecticut arguing that remaining silent in the midst of human rights violations makes you complicit. “Those words are what inspired us,” the first staffer explained. “Those words are what called us to write a letter and why we believe these letters do hold power and hold weight.” MESSAGE US — Are you LUKAS MCGOWAN, senior adviser to the office of intergovernmental affairs? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
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