NEW YORK POST
Hillary Clinton declined to give her backing to Joe Biden, and joked about ‘taking away grandpa’s keys’ at a private salon in NYC on Wednesday, sources said.
Clinton faced a restless crowd of influential Democrats who want President Biden to leave the 2024 race Wednesday night — only for her to warn them it wouldn’t be that simple.
Sources told Page Six the former secretary of state, 76, came armed with humor when she faced tough questions from the “somewhere between anxious and irate” gathering at the city home of venture capital exec Jacqueline Novogratz.
“She made a joke [saying] anyone has been in the situation where you have to take the keys away from older parents,” an insider said.
But the same source added that the ex-senator from New York and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee advised her audience that “you can’t force him out,” and “the only people who could persuade Biden [to exit] are the people closest to him.”
Another source confirmed that Clinton said “it was going to be very hard to convince” the 81-year-old chief executive to step aside.
Clinton also told the crowd that she “certainly” thinks Biden would win re-election against Trump and added that if she were advising a potential replacement, she would tell them not to touch the nomination with a “10-foot pole.”
“Hillary told the crowd, ‘Why would you do that when you could have a clear shot to run your own campaign in 2028?’” said one source, who added that Clinton also mused that “maybe somebody will prove [her] wrong in the next two weeks.”
The ex-first lady also laid out the thorny political issues involving the commitment of delegates and transfer of campaign funds, all of which would make Vice President Kamala Harris the favorite to step in if Biden did exit the race.
“None of them have made the political calculation,” a source said was the thrust of Clinton’s message about non-Harris, post-Biden contenders, “is that how anyone wants to meet America?”
Sources also said that Clinton confirmed to the gathering of about 70 people that she has discussed the commander-in-chief’s future with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and her ex-boss, Barack Obama.
Page Six hears that guests at at the Acumen CEO’s home included billionaire scion Jonathan Soros, “You’ve Got Mail” actress Meg Ryan, former UBS Global Asset Management CEO Margo Alexander and Iceland President-elect Halla Tómasdóttir — who apparently kept her own counsel throughout the gathering.
