- Some of Joe Biden's allies aren't pleased he quit the race.
- They're speaking up even as much of the party rallies around Kamala Harris.
When President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he was dropping out of the 2024 race for president, most top Democrats quickly praised his decision and lined up to show support for Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor.
But some longtime allies of the president didn't stick to the script, sounding angry and betrayed.
Some went so far as to accuse the party's donors and most powerful members of forcing Biden out.
These figures "pushed out the only candidate who has ever beaten Trump," wrote Ron Klain, Biden's former chief of staff, disparaging what he saw as "political fantasy games."
Although he went on to praise Harris, the note of hurt was unmistakable.
Klain was among the Biden confidants urging him not to quit, NBC News reported.
Klain and others insisted there was still a path to victory for Biden despite alarming polling data in the wake of the president's poor performance in the June debate against Donald Trump, The New York Times reported.
Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, the cochair of Biden's campaign, teared up during an interview with CBS News as he discussed Biden's decision to withdraw.
"This was a very difficult decision. And one that I think reflects the very best of who Joe Biden is," he said.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas blamed the Democratic Party for the crisis.
"I hope the geniuses that pushed the most consequential President of our lifetime out have a plan," Crockett wrote on X.
"Joe wasn't the problem… dems were," she continued.
Crockett also voiced her support for Harris, saying she would refuse to campaign if anyone else was chosen to run.
Biden endorsed Harris as his replacement, and she seems to have few viable rivals for her party's nomination.
Citing unnamed sources, Axios reported that Biden felt isolated, frustrated, and betrayed by Democrats who called on him to withdraw.
"It was fury for a while. Then he surrendered to reality. He's a professional," an unnamed friend of the president told the outlet.
Biden said for weeks that he wouldn't quit, but he relented on Sunday, saying it was "in the best interest of my party and the country."
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer were among the party leaders who appealed to Biden directly to reconsider his decision to stay in the race, according to reports, while former President Barack Obama shared his concerns about the campaign with key Democrats.
Even before Biden announced he was quitting the race Sunday, his allies had criticized what they characterized as a campaign by party elites to oust him.
A source close to Biden told NBC News said recent events felt like a rerun of 2015, when Biden was persuaded not to run in the 2016 election and Hillary Clinton secured the nomination.
Clinton, of course, fell to Trump in a shocking defeat.
"Can we all just remember for a minute that these same people who are trying to push Joe Biden out are the same people who literally gave us all Donald Trump," a source close to Biden told NBC News.
"In 2015, Obama, Pelosi, Schumer pushed Biden aside in favor of Hillary; they were wrong then, and they are wrong now."
Democrats are set to convene on August 19 in Chicago, where they'll choose the party's official nominee for president.