Publicly, President Biden\u2019s allies have spent the past several days aggressively downplaying his missteps in Thursday\u2019s debate by assailing the \u201cbedwetting brigade\u201d of nervous Democrats, highlighting a record influx of campaign donations and noting the long history of incumbents who stumbled during their first debates.<\/p>\n
Privately, they have worked the phones to reassure nervous donors, pleaded with concerned lawmakers to keep their powder dry, and huddled with colleagues to commiserate \u2014 while steeling themselves for a battle that could determine not only whether Biden wins the election in November, but whether he will be on the ballot at all.<\/p>\n
The push to save Biden\u2019s candidacy, which is ongoing as the president is spending time with his family at Camp David, appears to have at least temporarily stemmed the flood of public doubt and bought the president some time. Still, the ambitious and frenzied effort by the president\u2019s aides, supporters and family members to contain the damage after Biden struggled to make a coherent case against Republican rival Donald Trump during the debate on Thursday. It has also become a case study of a campaign thrust into crisis.<\/p>\n
As of Sunday, no major Democratic official has called for Biden to drop out of the race and several have publicly expressed renewed support for him, even as they note that his debate performance has prompted worries about the party\u2019s showing in November.<\/p>\n
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) acknowledged on MSNBC\u2019s \u201cThe Weekend\u201d that House Democrats are involved in conversations over the future of Biden\u2019s candidacy. He noted that, because the House will be in recess next week for the Fourth of July, those conversations will continue over the phone and virtually.<\/p>\n
But he added that \u201cone thing should be clear: There is a big difference between our view of the world, the country and the future, and the extreme MAGA Republican view.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden\u2019s performance on Thursday \u201ccertainly was a setback,\u201d Jeffries added. \u201cBut of course, I believe a setback is nothing more than a setup for a comeback.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other top Democrats \u2014 including Reps. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and James E. Clyburn (S.C.), and Sens. Raphael G. Warnock (Ga.) and Chris Coons (Del.) \u2014 all appeared on various television channels Sunday to recommit to backing the president\u2019s reelection bid.<\/p>\n
The public show of support came on the heels of a harried private effort that began even before the debate ended on Thursday, as private group chats, hushed conversations and social media teemed with consternation about Democrats\u2019 prospects.<\/p>\n
Biden aides began telling the media as the debate was underway that the president had a cold, rationalizing his thin, raspy voice and unsteady delivery. Vice President Harris said immediately afterward that his \u201cslow start\u201d was not a sign of a broader weakness, and campaign surrogates in the spin room tried to shift the focus from Biden\u2019s stumbles to Trump\u2019s falsehoods and extreme comments.<\/p>\n
The push continued Friday and through the weekend, including a rush of activity by Biden, his wife, Jill, and other allies that came against the backdrop of top editorial boards, columnists and Democratic commentators calling on the president to exit the race.<\/p>\n
In the days since the debate, a wave of influential voices that have previously backed Biden, including New Yorker editor David Remnick, New York Times columnists Tom Friedman and Nick Kristof, and \u201cMorning Joe\u201d host Joe Scarborough, have called on the president to pull out of the race or at least seriously consider it.<\/p>\n
During a virtual Democratic National Committee meeting Saturday, which was hastily scheduled less than 24 hours before, leaders implored their members to stick behind Biden.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to have his back,\u201d DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said, according to members on the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions. Harrison acknowledged that Biden had not gotten younger, but emphasized the message that he was not a liar like Trump, one person recalled.<\/p>\n
However, the call did not provide an opportunity for members to share their concerns with the party\u2019s leaders; there was no question-and-answer session and the chat function was disabled. Such moves frustrated members who had hoped for a more honest conversation about the party\u2019s difficult path forward.<\/p>\n
Party leaders and campaign officials, instead, bragged about their fundraising success, yard sign distribution, house parties and surrogate events. They explained a strategy to bring in social media influencers to the Democratic convention in Chicago.<\/p>\n
Harrison concluded the call by telling the members he was going on a Disney cruise, fulfilling a promise he made to his children. The event did not eliminate doubts, while stoking the frustration of some.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a confident bunch,\u201d said one person who participated. \u201cThis is all competent. But who knows if it is enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
One Democratic House member said the call was \u201cterrible\u201d and the message wasn\u2019t based in reality.<\/p>\n
Jeffries and other Democrats in House leadership have been privately telling worried lawmakers from competitive districts to stay quiet for a few more days and see what happens, the member said.<\/p>\n
Despite the pressure campaign, at least some elected Democrats are publicly voicing their concerns and others are awaiting polling numbers before speaking out one way or the other.<\/p>\n
Appearing on MSNBC on Sunday, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said there was a \u201cbig problem with Joe Biden\u2019s debate performance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are very honest and serious and rigorous conversations taking place at every level of our party,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For his part, Biden has tried to showcase a more forceful public visage than the stumbling, raspy-voiced debater millions of Americans watched at the prime-time event his campaign negotiated and advocated for.<\/p>\n
He has held several events in recent days, including a raucous rally in Raleigh, N.C., where he vigorously prosecuted the case against Trump while debuting a new line acknowledging his age and limitations directly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t walk as easily as I used to. I don\u2019t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don\u2019t debate as well as I used to,\u201d Biden said, his voice rising as the crowd responded in kind. \u201cBut \u2026 I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. I know how to do this job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several Democrats have pointed to the Raleigh event as a critical moment of reassurance, even as they questioned the sharp difference between the president\u2019s performance at the debate and his rally appearance one day later.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the Joe Biden we all know and love, and frankly the one we had hoped would have shown up on the debate stage,\u201d said Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist who remains committed to backing Biden\u2019s reelection.<\/p>\n
Cardona, who was on the DNC call on Saturday, dismissed the \u201ctangential chatter from strategists and pundits and editorial boards\u201d calling on Biden to drop out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t really matter,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat really matters are the elected officials, the donors and the voters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Around the same time Biden was rallying in Raleigh, he received a critical message of support from former president Barack Obama, whose own shaky debate in 2012 also rocked his reelection bid.<\/p>\n
\u201cBad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know,\u201d Obama posted on social media Friday afternoon. \u201cBut this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back at Biden\u2019s campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., several staffers gathered to watch the rally Friday, standing up and celebrating as they saw a more energized Biden in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 supporters.<\/p>\n
During an all-hands staff meeting afterward, campaign chair Jen O\u2019Malley Dillon sought to rally the troops, acknowledging the rough night and encouraging aides to focus on drawing a sharp contrast with Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve all been through hard times,\u201d she told the gathered staff, according to a recording of the meeting. \u201cWe\u2019ve all wished something went a little bit better than maybe it did. And then our job and our decision is, can we keep going to fight for it and make sure we put in the work, and that\u2019s what I think the president has done.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a series of memos, the campaign has sought to downplay the concerns of pundits and commentators who claimed Biden had done irreparable harm to his candidacy during the debate. They have pointed to a flood of donations \u2014 more than $33 million so far since Thursday \u2014 and other metrics that suggest voters are still on board with Biden.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, O\u2019Malley Dillon released a memo saying that despite the poor performance, little had changed about a race that she had long expected would remain close until the end. She suggested that any polls that showed Biden bleeding support would only be temporary and the result of \u201coverblown media narratives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hours later, deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty went a step further in a sharply worded memo to supporters aimed at forcefully combating those who have tried to force Biden out of the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bedwetting brigade is calling for Joe Biden to \u2018drop out,\u2019\u201d he wrote. \u201cThat is the best possible way for Donald Trump to win and us to lose. First of all: Joe Biden is going to be the Democratic nominee, period. End of story. Voters voted.\u201d<\/p>\n
He suggested that Biden stepping aside would lead to weeks of chaos and internal fighting among Democrats, all serving to boost Trump\u2019s chances.<\/p>\n
Such an argument must weigh heavily on Biden\u2019s mind as he considers his place in history and thinks about the implications of what it would mean to end his presidential bid prematurely, said Tevi Troy, a presidential historian.<\/p>\n
\u201cBiden holds all the cards here,\u201d he said. \u201cAs long as he says he\u2019s going to run, he gets to keep running. It doesn\u2019t matter what Tom Friedman says. It doesn\u2019t matter what Nick Kristof says. It\u2019s Biden\u2019s decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mariana Alfaro and Leigh Ann Caldwell contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Publicly, President Biden\u2019s allies have spent the past several days aggressively downplaying his missteps in Thursday\u2019s debate by assailing the \u201cbedwetting brigade\u201d of nervous Democrats, highlighting a record influx of campaign donations and noting the long history of incumbents who stumbled during their first debates. Privately, they have worked the phones to reassure nervous donors, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5684,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}