Biden Concern is mounting among the top echelons of the Democratic Party that the leaders of Joe Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee are not adequately addressing the repercussions of the president’s troubling debate performance earlier this week.
DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison and Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez held a Saturday afternoon call with dozens of committee members from across the country, including some of the party’s most influential figures. They largely ignored Biden’s weak showing on Thursday night and the subsequent wave of criticism.
Several committee members on the call, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, felt as though they were being gaslighted — asked to disregard the serious nature of the party’s predicament. They believe the call may have intensified a widespread sense of panic among elected officials, donors, and other stakeholders. Instead, Harrison provided what they described as an overly optimistic assessment of Biden’s path forward. The chat function was disabled, and no questions were allowed.
“I was hoping for more of a substantive conversation instead of, ‘Hey, let’s go out there and just be cheerleaders,’ without actually addressing a very serious issue that unfolded on American television for millions of people to see,” said Joe Salazar, an elected DNC member from Colorado, who was on the call. “There were a number of things that could have been said to address the situation. But we didn’t get that. We were being gaslighted.”
Many donors, party strategists, and rank-and-file DNC members are both publicly and privately suggesting that the 81-year-old Biden should step aside to allow the party to select a younger replacement at the Democratic National Convention in August. However, Biden’s closest allies insist he remains well-positioned to compete against Republican Donald Trump and have given no indication they will push him to end his campaign.
Those best positioned to replace him — Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — reiterated their support for Biden after the debate. Many are anxiously awaiting the first major round of post-debate public polling to determine their next steps.
Polls from CNN and 538/Ipsos conducted soon after the debate found that most debate-watchers believed Trump outperformed Biden. However, the two men’s favorability ratings remained largely unchanged, just as they did following Trump’s conviction on charges in New York related to a hush money scheme to influence the 2016 election.
In a subsequent appearance on MSNBC, Harrison downplayed the significance of the conference call, describing it as part of a regularly scheduled communication “to talk about the state of the race” and the upcoming national convention with the DNC’s many elected members across the country.
Biden and his campaign have sought to project confidence in the days since Thursday’s debate, during which the president, who already faced serious concerns about his physical and mental stamina, offered a performance marked by repeated stumbles, uncomfortable pauses, and a quiet speaking style that was often difficult to understand.
Just after Saturday’s DNC call, the Biden campaign released a memo from senior adviser Jen O’Malley Dillon, insisting that the debate had no tangible impact on the election.
“On every metric that matters, data shows it did nothing to change the American people’s perception, our supporters are more fired up than ever, and Donald Trump only reminded voters of why they fired him four years ago and failed to expand his appeal beyond his MAGA base,” O’Malley Dillon wrote.
She added, “If we do see changes in polling in the coming weeks, it will not be the first time that overblown media narratives have driven temporary dips in the polls.”
Meanwhile, Biden spent much of Saturday courting wealthy donors in New York’s affluent Hamptons.
“I didn’t have a great night, but neither did Trump,” Biden said of the debate at one gathering in East Hampton.
Regarding Trump, Biden said, “The big takeaway was his lies.”
Harrison reinforced the president’s message on the DNC call, which lasted roughly an hour. Hannah Muldavin, a DNC spokesperson, said the discussion was a regularly scheduled quarterly conference call with the committee’s membership.
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The topics included Biden’s energetic appearance in North Carolina the day after the debate and a fundraising surge that produced more than $27 million for the campaign from debate day through Friday evening, Muldavin said.
Harrison did not ignore the debate altogether in his remarks, she said.
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