Former Obama speechwriter “preemptively frustrated” by Biden’s unity efforts

The former President Obama speechwriter says he is “preemptively frustrated” by President Biden’s efforts to find unity with Republicans.

What they say: Cody Keenan told Axios that Biden’s messaging team had “hit all the right deals,” but at some point “they’re going to have to answer questions like,” Why haven’t you reached unity ? “when there is an entire political party already taking action to stop it.”

Keenan spent 14 years writing for Obamaincluding working alongside Biden for eight of those years. He admitted to being embittered by his own experience, especially after Senator Mitch McConnell pledged to make his former boss a term president.

• “Until the Republican Party steps in and tells its own constituents what’s really going on with the truth, it’s going to be elusive,” Keenan said. “It’s not up to (President Biden) alone to deliver. He can’t.”

Keenan helped Obama with the first volume from his memoir, “A Promised Land”. he stopped working with the former president on New Years Eve and took a full-time position at Fenway Strategies. The company is run by former Obama administration officials.

• “It just seemed like a natural place after the book and the election and, you know, [Obama] isn’t going to do a ton, especially with Biden in the office, ”Keenan said.

Keenan is also writing a book, titled “Grace,” roughly 10 days between filming 2015 at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, until Obama’s eulogy for Reverend Clementa Pinckney.

• Obama ended by singing “Amazing Grace”.
• The title also nods to Keenan’s newborn daughter named Grace.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the fact that Fenway Strategies is operated by former Obama officials. A previous version incorrectly stated that it was run by Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor, who both left the company..