Joe Biden, the US vice-president, cast doubt yesterday on Hillary Clinton’s account of the tense moments before the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Mr Biden disputes her claim that she urged President Obama to press ahead with the perilous mission. Mrs Clinton has claimed that she advised the president to go ahead, sending special forces deep into Pakistan in 2011 to kill the architect of the September 11 attacks.
The vice-president, whose every remark is being scrutinised as America waits to see whether he will run, painted a different picture of the deliberations inside the White House. “Everybody went around the room and there were only two people who were definitive,” he said in Washington.
According to Mr Biden, Leon Panetta, then the CIA head, was in favour of the raid, while Bob Gates, the defence secretary, was against it. Mr Biden said that he spoke privately to Mr Obama in favour of the raid.
Mr Biden said yesterday that he decided not to give Mr Obama advice in the Situation Room, but privately told the president that he was for the raid. That appeared to conflict with Mr Biden’s previous accounts, where he said he had counselled caution.
Advertisement
The implicit dig at Mrs Clinton offers a hint of what may unfold if Mr Biden runs. There is little policy difference between the vice-president and the former secretary of state. Many believe that character attacks are inevitable.
A strong show in the Democratic primary debate last Tuesday appears to have steadied Mrs Clinton’s presidential campaign, with a poll showing her recouping much of the support she lost during a tumultuous summer.
She has the support of 54 per cent of Democratic voters, a gain of 12 points in a month, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll published yesterday. Bernie Sanders, the leftwing Vermont senator, is in second place with 23 per cent. Mr Biden is third with 16 per cent.
The latest Republican poll, published yesterday by Monmouth University, New Jersey, showed Donald Trump continuing to hold the lead, backed by 28 per cent of party supporters. There was more bad news for Jeb Bush, with the former Florida governor losing two thirds of his support since July. He is now in sixth place, on 5 per cent.