Top Democratic leaders reportedly forced President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race by threatening to invoke the 25th Amendment, sources told the New York Post on Monday. This amendment allows for the removal of a sitting president deemed unfit for duty, which Democratic leaders used as leverage to ensure Biden stepped aside voluntarily.

Republicans, including Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), speculated that the Democrats’ actions were part of a calculated strategy. “There’s a constitutional process, the 25th Amendment,” Vance said on Fox News. “If Joe Biden can’t run for president, he can’t serve as president, and if they want to take him down because he’s mentally incapable of serving, invoke the 25th Amendment. You don’t get to do this in the most politically beneficial way for Democrats.”

According to the New York Post, the plan to remove Biden had been orchestrated for weeks. A source close to the Biden family suggested that the Democrats set Biden up by allowing him to debate former President Donald Trump. “Hunter felt he [Joe Biden] was being set up and he was very concerned about his father,” the source said. “These officials were not on Joe’s side.”

The source also mentioned that Democratic insiders had known for years about Biden’s decline. “When I saw him a couple of years ago, it was frightening,” the source said. “He was just repeating slogans and had no idea who I was.”

Former President Barack Obama played a significant role in Biden’s decision to step aside. His concerns about Biden’s viability were leaked to the Washington Post immediately after top Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Democrat Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), advised Biden to withdraw from the race.

The timing of the leak suggests a coordinated effort by Democratic leaders to pressure Biden into dropping out. “The idea here is that Obama, Pelosi, Jeffries, and Schumer do not want to be seen as back-room party bosses engineering a Harris coronation,” Politico Playbook reported. “And if there’s a real challenge then they want to be able to unite the party again when there’s a nominee.”

This revelation adds to the ongoing narrative of disarray within the Democratic Party as it prepares for the 2024 election. With Biden out of the race, Vice President Kamala Harris, who Biden endorsed as his successor, faces the challenge of uniting the party. However, the process for officially selecting the Democratic nominee remains uncertain, as party leaders work to present a cohesive front in the upcoming election.