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With respect to Gina Raimondo, the Rhode Islander with the closest ties to President Joe Biden has always been Mike Donilon, the Providence-born political strategist who was widely credited in 2020 with helping Biden win the presidency and then widely criticized last year for protecting Biden amid widespread fears about his age and ability to remain in the White House.
Donilon, who is now a fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy Institute of Politics, made headlines during an interview at the institute last month when he said the Democratic Party “lost its mind” following Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump last summer, which led to Biden ending his reelection bid.
“Lots of people have terrible debates,” Donilon said during the interview. “Usually, the party doesn’t lose its mind, but that’s what happened here. It melted down.”
That comment prompted David Axelrod, another top Democratic strategist who helped Barack Obama win the presidency, to offer a one-word response on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: “Delusional,” Axelrod wrote.
The whole interview is worth watching. You can click the image below to watch.
Donilon discussed his path from Providence to the White House, and explained how his interest in polling and messaging led him to work on a number of political campaigns, and ultimately strike up a four-decade friendship and working relationship with Biden.
He also spoke about some of the more controversial decisions in the Biden White House, including the withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan and the administration’s struggles to tackle inflation.
Donilon also detailed the hours leading up to Biden’s exit from the race, explaining that he wrote the letter announcing the withdrawal. He said that on the morning Biden left the race, Biden was negotiating one of the “most complicated” prisoner swaps in the history of the country – the one that ultimately led to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich being freed from a Russian prison.
“We lost this narrative because the truth of Biden’s skill, his acuity, his judgement was, in my mind, he would still be the best president in this country right now,” Donilon said. “I have no doubt about that.”
🤔 So you think you're a Rhode Islander...
Providence hosted both the first men's (1980) and women's (1983) Big East basketball tournaments. Who won each tournament? (You can find the answer below.)
Do you have the perfect question for Rhode Map readers? Don't forget to send the answer, too. Shoot me an email today.
The Globe in Rhode Island
⚓ Advocates are urging passage of legislation that would shield librarians from civil and criminal charges for books in their collections, require that those challenging books live in the library’s service area or attend school in the district, and standardize guidelines for libraries in acquiring books and reviewing challenges to those books.Read more.
⚓ They fell in love while cooking at NYC’s Per Se. Now they’re opening a tasting menu restaurant in Providence. Read more.
⚓ The US Department of Education on Monday sent a letter to 60 universities around the country, including several in New England, warning them of “potential enforcement actions” if they fail to protect Jewish students on their campuses. Read more.
⚓ In an opinion piece for Globe Rhode Island, Nicole P. Dyszlewski writes that denying access to books does not protect children, adolescents, or students. Read more.
You can check out all of our coverage at Globe.com/RI
Also in the Globe
⚓The Education Department plans to lay off more than 1,300 of its employees as part of an effort to halve the organization’s staff – a prelude to President Trump’s plan to dismantle the agency. Read more.
⚓ What's what’s a consumer to do in this time of economic uncertainty? The Globe’s business desk tapped several of our in-house experts to break down how to navigate the financial decisions you may be encountering during this turbulent start to 2025. Read more.
⚓ As spring training starts to wind down, there are some valid concerns the Red Sox need to address. Read more.
⚓ Rhode Map readers, if you want the birthday of a friend or family member to be recognized Friday, send me an email with their first and last name, and their age.
⚓ The CCRI women's basketball team takes on Jefferson Community College in the first round of the NJCAA Division III tournament at 5 p.m. The Providence College men's basketball team plays Butler at 4 p.m. in the first round of the Big East tournament.
⚓ The I-195 Redevelopment District Commission is set to select a developer for parcel 5 at its 5 p.m. meeting.
⚓ The legislative commission that is studying climate change meets at 1:30 p.m. Here's the agenda.
🏆 Pop quiz answer
Georgetown won the 1980 men's Big East tournament at the Providence Civic Center. St. John's won the 1983 women's tournament at Alumni Hall.
RHODE ISLAND REPORT PODCAST Ed Fitzpatrick talks to former US representative James Langevin about cybersecurity, the Trump administration, and more. Listen to all of our podcasts here.
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