EXCLUSIVEMeet Biden's group of longtime, loyal aides and family who are advising the president as he weighs exiting the 2024 contest
- READ MORE: Biden family discussing exit plans
- READ MORE: Biden holes up with Jill in Delaware
President Joe Biden is getting more isolated and his inner circle is growing even smaller as he fights calls a growing tidal wave of calls to drop out of the presidential race.
As the walls close in on the 81-year-old, the aides who have stayed by his side are hunting leakers and reporting any signs of disloyalty to First Lady Jill, DailyMail.com has learned.
Biden has heavily leaned on the tight knit group of allies and family members who have become increasingly more defiant and frustrated.
During his COVID isolation at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware,home, they have become even more protective as signs of the end of his political career started to show.
Wife Jill, sister Valerie Owens, and son Hunter remain livid with some staff in the way they dealt with the aftermath of the car crash presidential debate performance.
And most devoted advisors Mike Donilon, Annie Tomasini, and Anthony Bernal - who have stuck with him through the very worst times of his career - have a massive influence in any decision going forward.
One source, who knows all of Biden's inner circle, describes them as 'terrified of Biden's temper.'
President Joe Biden, from left, walks with White House deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, White House deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed and White House communications director Ben LaBolt in April
As he grows increasingly frustrated at the members of his party who are abandoning him, they will be exposed to his anger that they have tolerated for years.
But as the president's career has risen, so has theirs, leaving them all tied to one another's fate.
What they all have in common is the reason why they have obtained their positions of power and influence: loyalty to the Bidens.
Here's a look at each of the players in Biden's orbit, from the aides with the most influence to the family members who will make the final call:
MIKE DONILON
Donilon, 65, has been with Biden since the beginning: the Senate, the vice presidency and the White House.
He was with Biden when he won all of his political campaigns. He was there when Beau Biden died.
Donilon was the man who drafted the winning strategy for Biden's 2020 campaign against Trump: threat to democracy.
And it was Donilon that Biden sent to Capitol Hill after the debate to reassure lawmakers about his candidacy.
Mike Donilon has been with Joe Biden from the beginning
His value is that he is said to be someone who can knows Biden so well he can divine what the president thinks and how he will react to any situation.
Donilon is the one Biden calls for news on polling but that has led some Democrats to ask what polls the president is being shown. Biden has said repeatedly he has seen polls that shows he can win in November.
When former Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently spoke to the president, telling him she had seen polls that showed he could not win, the president had pushed back, saying he had polls showing otherwise.
Pelosi challenged him, The New York Times reported.
'Put Donilon on the phone,' Pelosi told the president. 'Show me what polls.'
Donilon left his West Wing job to work for the campaign but where he works doesn't change his influence. He is a constant presence on the phone to Biden.
ANTHONY BERNAL
Bernal's, 51, title is senior aide to Jill Biden and special assistant to the president.
Don't let that fool you.
It barely comes close to measuring the influence he has in the White House. And, as the pressure grows for President Biden to exit the race and the inner circle tightens, Bernal's influence has grown.
Anthony Bernal, the powerful aide to first lady Jill Biden
He is now watching staff for any sign of leakers, DailyMail.com confirmed, and reports any disloyalty to the first lady.
Bernal has been with the Bidens since the 2008 campaign and is known as the enforcer within the White House. He sits in senior staff meetings in the West Wing. A former TV producer, he is on hand to check settings for any public appearance by either Biden.
His loyalty to Jill Biden, who he refers to as 'our lady,' is without question. He would take a bullet for her and then get up and stand in front of a moving train to protect her.
Bernal runs the East Wing while White House deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini runs the West Wing. The duo speak multiple times a day and joke they are each other's work spouse.
The two became 'family' to the Bidens during the 2020 campaign when, during the COVID lockdown, they were the only two allowed in the Bidens' Wilmington home.
And they inspire terror in younger staffers, who do not want to get on either's bad side.
They are the family gatekeepers with an all-access pass to the residence in the upper floors of the White House.
ANNIE TOMASINI
Annie is 'family.'
When Jill Biden donated her inaugural outfits to the Smithsonian American History museum, she invited her sisters and Annie Tomasini, the deputy White House chief of staff.
Annie Tomasini with President Joe Biden
When the grandkids travel with the president and first lady, it's Tomasini, 47, who keeps an eye on them.
And when staff enjoy rare downtime during long work trips, it's Tomasini who is there watching carefully so nothing gets too out of hand, especially when reporters are around.
She is the ever-present presence at President Biden's side, riding next to him in the Beast a on trips, minding his scheduule and guarding acces to him in the Oval Office.
A Catholic girl from Boston, she is the three-time captain of her college basketball team at Boston University.
She is a longtime loyalist. Tomasini worked for Biden when he was a senator and later vice president.
She was with him in Las Vegas this past week when he tested positive for COVID. And she rode with him in the motorcade to Rehoboth Beach, where the president is isolating with Jill Biden in their beach house.
Bernal is at the house too.
Anthony Bernal and Annie Tomasini exit the White House together in February - he runs the East Wing; she runs the West Wing
OTHER AIDES
Other advisers, such as Steve Ricchetti and Bruce Reed have been with Biden for years.
But they do not have the same influence as the core group.
They do have their areas though. Ricchetti manages relationships on Capitol Hill. Reed is the policy guru.
Meanwhile, sometimes close aides like campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon, former chief of staff Ron Klain, attorney Bob Bauer, and adviser Anita Dunn - all of whom helped in the debate prep - are said to be on the outs amid the family fury.
Don't underestimate the power of the first lady.
She and Joe have been married 47 years. He still calls her 'the light of my life and the light of my love.'
She is also one of the last people he consults before he makes a final decision on any major issue. She has been described as his 'gut check.'
Jill Biden watches over Joe Biden from the Truman balcony at the White House
Jill Biden was the first one to defend him after his terrible debate performance against Donald Trump, telling him 'you answered every question.'
She has made it clear she will stand by him and his desire to stay in the race.
'That's the decision he's made and just as he has always supported my career, I am all in too,' she told campaign events in Florida last week.
She has campaigned for him frequently, sometimes spending more time on the trail than he does.
More so, the first lady has noted all the family has had to endure since Biden decided to run for president, particularly the federal cases against Hunter for his gun purchase and his tax issues.
Finally, she is the keeper of the family flame and considers loyalty the ultimate quality. And staff knows it.
She does have a playful side, including the ocassional practical joke. But when Jill Biden, a college professor, uses her teacher's voice, aides jump to listen.
VALERIE BIDEN OWENS
Valerie Biden Owens, 78, the president's younger sister, has long been one of his top political advisers.
Valerie Biden Owens leaves church with brother Joe Biden
She managed his first Senate campaign in 1972 and has been deeply involved in all his campaign since, including his presidential runs.
She also became a surrogate mother to Hunter and Beau after Biden's first wife, Neilia Hunter Biden, and their 1-year-old daughter Naomi were killed in a traffic accident in 1972 shortly after Biden won his first US Senate race.
She moved into her brother's home to look after the boys while Biden commuted daily on Amtrak to Washington D.C.
She remains an important sounding board for her big brother.
HUNTER BIDEN
President Joe Biden talks to his only living son daily and texts with him multiple times a day.
And Hunter is adament his father stay in the presidential race.
In the aftermath of the disastrous debate, Hunter Biden was reported to have taken a more active role in his father's administration, joining him in meetings at the White House.
Hunter Biden with dad Joe Biden
Republicans have used Hunter's business dealings to try and bring down the president. Joe Biden has said repeatedly he has no involvement in his son's dealings.
And the family rallied around Hunter during his recent legal case. Valerie Biden was in the courtroom every day and Jill Biden made four flights between Wilmington, Delaware and Paris, France to be with her step son.
Additionally, the Bidens have embraced his wife Melissa and son Beau, inviting them to major White House events like the Easter Egg Roll and Christmas Tree arrival.
The family remains tight.
No final decision will be made without Hunter's input.
