President Biden’s family is urging him to stay in the race and fight despite last week’s disastrous debate performance, even as some members of his clan have privately expressed anger at how his staff prepared for the event, people close to the situation said. was sunday
Mr. Biden huddled with his wife, children and grandchildren at Camp David as he tried to figure out how to quell Democratic anxiety. While his relatives former President Donald J. Acutely aware of the backlash against Trump, he argued that he could still show the country that he was capable of serving another four years.
Mr. Biden is seeking ideas from advisers on how to proceed, and his staff is debating whether he should hold a news conference or sit for an interview to defend himself and change the narrative, but nothing has yet been decided. . The campaign has scheduled what could be a crucial call with its national fund-raising committee for Monday to calm nerves and take temperatures.
One of the strongest voices urging Mr. Biden to resist pressure to drop out was his son Hunter Biden, whom the president has long leaned on for advice, said one of the people familiar with the discussions, who, like others, spoke on condition. Anonymous to share internal discussions. Hunter Biden wants Americans to see the version of his father they know — scrappy and in command of the facts — instead of the stumbling, aging president Americans saw Thursday night.
Other family members were trying to figure out how they could help. At least one of the president’s grandsons has expressed interest in becoming more involved in the campaign, perhaps by talking to influencers on social media, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Anger among Democrats was evident on Sunday when John Morgan, a top Democratic donor close to Mr. Biden’s brother Frank, publicly named Ron Klein, Anita Dunn and Bob Bauer to blame the advisers managing the presidential debate preparations.
“Biden has long been fooled by the value of Anita Dunn and her husband,” Mr. Morgan said wrote on social media. “They need to go … today. The grifting is gross. It was political malpractice.”
In a subsequent interview, he gave detailed information about this. “It would be like if you took a prize fighter who was going to have a title fight and put him in a sauna for 15 hours and then said, ‘Go fight,'” he said. “I believe the discussion is only on Ron Klein, Bob Bauer and Anita Dunn.”
Members of Mr. Biden’s family are also said to have focused on the president’s staff, including Ms. Dunn, a senior White House adviser, and her husband, Mr. Bauer, the president’s personal lawyer, who played Mr. Trump during debate rehearsals.
They were asking why Mr. Klein, the former White House chief of staff who ran the preparations, would allow them to be overloaded with statistics, in his opinion, and he was angry that Mr. Biden, who had arrived in Atlanta for the debate. The summer tan was made to look dull and pale, said one person, who has been in touch with several family members.
But the person said the president himself was not among those offended and that he still trusted Mr. Klein, Ms. Dunn, Mr. Bauer and others. Other Democrats said it was unfair to blame the president’s staff for his own failures, dismissing what they called typical second-guessing and sacrifice aimed at deflecting attention from Mr. Biden.
Some Democrats pointed out that neither family members nor Mr. Morgan or other critics attended the preparation sessions and therefore had no idea how they went. A member of Mr. Biden’s circle said that no one was happy with how the debate went and that it was human nature to blame someone.
Mr. Klein, Ms. Dunn and Mr. Bauer did not comment on the preparation for the debate, but Mr. Klein said he was 100 percent certain the president would stay in the race. “It’s the choice of the Democratic voters,” Mr. Klein said. “We are seeing record levels of support from grass roots donors. We had a bad discussion night. But you can win a campaign by fighting — not quitting — in the face of adversity.”
He recalled a primary debate in 2019 that went badly but did not deter Mr. Biden. “It’s a tough, close campaign and he’s the guy who can win it,” Mr. Klein said. “Big Donors Can’t Mandate the Democratic Party’s Nominee.”
In the days since the debate, Mr. Biden has acknowledged privately and publicly that he did not do well, and that he is calling on trusted advisers such as Mr. Klein; Ted Kaufman, his longtime assistant and friend; and John Meacham, historian and informal adviser; Also major donors and party figures.
But three people familiar with Mr. Biden’s calls said he was checking more to see what people were saying rather than consulting about reassessing his future. His tone was measured. A person on Mr. Biden’s phone tree said the president wants to continue campaigning hard to contrast Mr. Trump, a convicted felon who tried to overturn the last election and made numerous false statements during the debate.
Campaign consultants have been burning up phone lines all weekend and major donors are frustrated by the situation, hoping to ride out a wave of defections. The campaign scheduled a conference call for its national fundraising committee at 5:30 p.m. Monday to hear from top executives Jane O’Malley Dillon and Rufus Gifford. Many insiders have said that preserving the donor base will be key to staying in the presidential race.
Mr. Biden was scheduled to return to the White House on Monday evening and was expected to spend at least some of the long Fourth of July weekend with family on the beach in Delaware, but the White House did not announce the rest of his schedule. week
While the campaign has strongly rejected suggestions that Mr. Biden step aside for another candidate just weeks before the roll call vote to formalize his nomination, many Democrats, including some who worked for the president, said they did not believe the door was on him. was still closed. possibility
But Mr. Biden is a proud man, and they said the odds that they believed he was trying to outwit him were still 4 or 5 to 1. They said the only way they could imagine reversing it was if they could afford it. A prestigious way in which they can claim credit for ousting Mr. Trump in 2020, restoring the country and serving as a transition to the next generation.
A new poll by CBS News There was strong sentiment among Democratic voters for Mr. Biden, 81, to give way to a younger nominee. 45 percent of Democrats said they wanted a different candidate in a fight with Mr. Trump. Among voters overall, just 27 percent believe Mr. Biden has the mental and cognitive health to serve as president, down from 35 percent before the debate.
Democratic allies took to the Sunday talk show to defend the president. “If they weren’t engaged in a little bit of hand-me-downs, they wouldn’t be Democrats,” Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” But he added, “Joe Biden has shown, not over 90 minutes, but over the last four years, the character and skill of the guy that he is.”
Maryland Governor Wes Moore acknowledged that Mr. Biden’s age was a concern for voters. “The number 81 is an important number,” he said on “Face the Nation” on CBS. “But it’s looking at historically low unemployment rates. And I don’t think people should lose sight of that.
Mr. Moore said he would not run if Mr. Biden dropped out. “Joe Biden is not going to take himself out of this race, and he shouldn’t,” he said. “He’s been a remarkable partner.”
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi dismissed talk of the president stepping down. “I support the Biden-Harris ticket,” she told former Biden White House press secretary Jane Psaki on MSNBC. “I’m not giving up on Joe Biden right now, for any speculation.”
However, that comment didn’t go unnoticed, and Democrats were still watching to see what their senior elected leaders would do, wondering whether they would privately intervene with the president despite his public comments of support.
Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, acknowledged that the president’s future is uncertain. “We’re having very honest and serious and hard conversations at every level in our party,” he said on MSNBC, “whether it’s the candidate or any other candidate.”
If any major discussion about the president’s future is to happen with the family, two Biden confidants said, it won’t happen at Camp David, where many outside the family can listen.
The family had planned to spend the weekend at Camp David before the debate, in part to participate in a photo shoot with veteran celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz. It was the first time the entire family had gathered in one place since Hunter Biden was indicted on federal gun charges; He still faces sentencing and another trial on tax charges.
A senior administration official who was not authorized to provide details of the internal conversations said there was an ongoing debate over how the president should proceed — not about quitting, but about how to best make the case that he shouldn’t.
The version of Mr. Biden that has emerged at rallies and fundraisers since Atlanta is more in line with the man his aides describe — someone who is energized, emphatic and ready to keep fighting until November.
But some aides were not happy to see him rely on a teleprompter at fund-raisers, which advisers have pushed for a more disciplined approach by the president, even in informal settings. An aide said Mr. Biden had been “scared” away from a more informal approach in recent months.