Associated Press
A sense of concern is growing inside the top ranks of the Democratic Party that leaders of Joe Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee are not taking seriously enough the impact of the President’s troubling debate performance earlier in the week.
DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison and Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez held a Saturday afternoon call with dozens of committee members across the country, a group of some of the most influential members of the party. They largely ignored Biden’s weak showing Thursday night or the avalanche of criticism that followed.
Multiple committee members on the call, most granted anonymity to talk about the private discussion, described feeling like they were being gaslighted — that they were being asked to ignore the dire nature of the party’s predicament. The call, they said, may have worsened a widespread sense of panic among elected officials, donors and other stakeholders.
Instead, the people said, Harrison offered what they described as a rosy assessment of Biden’s path forward. The chat function was disabled and there were no questions 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 in addressing the situation. But we didn’t get that. We were being gaslit.”
Many donors, party strategists and rank-and-file DNC members are publicly and privately saying they want the 81-year-old Biden to step aside to allow the party to select a younger replacement at the Democratic National Convention in August. As of now, though, 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 among them — 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 thought Trump outperformed Biden. But the two men’s favorability ratings remained largely unchanged, just as they did in the aftermath of Trump’s conviction on charges in New York that he illegally participated in a hush money scheme to influence the 2016 election.
In a subsequent appearance on MSNBC, Harrison downplayed the significance of the conference call, which he said was 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 in which the president, who already faced serious concerns about his physical and mental stamina, offered a performance punctuated 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 famed wealthy enclave of the Hamptons.
“I didn’t have a great night, but neither did Trump,” Biden said of the debate at one gathering in East Hampton.
Of Trump, Biden said, “The big takeaway was his lies.”
Harrison reinforced the president’s message on the DNC call, which spanned roughly an hour. Hannah Muldavin, a DNC spokesperson, said the discussion was a regularly scheduled quarterly conference call with the committee’s membership.
The topics included Biden’s energetic North Carolina appearance the day after the debate and a fundraising surge that produced more than $27 million for the campaign between debate day through Friday evening, Muldavin said.
Harrison did not ignore the debate altogether in his remarks, she said.
He briefly referenced Biden’s comments from his North Carolina speech that he doesn’t debate as well as he used to, but that he knows how to get up when he gets knocked down.
Salazar noted that Harrison also suggested that party leaders always knew the 2024 presidential contest would be close, a regular Democratic talking point that irks Salazar.
“This should not be a close race,” Salazar said, pointing to Trump’s criminal record and long history of falsehoods. “They’re the ones who should be looking for a new nominee, not us. And unfortunately for us, because of our president’s performance on Thursday night, that is now an open discussion.”
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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
15 comments
FSU Frat Boy
June 30, 2024 at 7:11 am
Lots of lies and coverups in the Demo party lead by the state run media, WH staff and the head of the DNC. Joe and Jill like flying Air Force 1 and are drunk on power and won’t go away quietly.
tom palmer
June 30, 2024 at 7:31 am
State-run media? This is not Russia, though Trump probably wishes it were.
FSU Frat Boy
June 30, 2024 at 7:41 am
The media has been super friendly to Joe since he was inaugurated. His press conferences are rigged. He has cheat sheets with pictures and names of the reporters he is suppose to call on. He has been previously briefed on what they were going to ask. All of the left leaning news organizations were on board with this. He has been in a declining mental state since he took office but we kept hearing that Joe was fit. It was all a lie and it all went BOOM on Thursday night. Joe is simply incapable without his cheat sheets, teleprompters, cue cards and such. He has no ability to think on the fly.
Jojo
June 30, 2024 at 7:55 am
Wow frat boy your name says it all.
It’s really easy to “ think on the fly” if what comes out of your mouth is verbal vomit.
Trump wouldn’t know a fact if it hit him in the face-
His modus operandi is talk talk talk lie lie lie repeat repeat repeat
FSU Professor
June 30, 2024 at 8:15 am
All politicians stretch the truth. You know the old saying, “how do you know a politician is lying?” Ans: his, her, (DEI pronouns) lips are moving.
My Take
June 30, 2024 at 5:19 pm
How do you know if a banker has a glass eye?
If you see a glint of human kindness.
— Will Rogers I believe.
My Take
June 30, 2024 at 5:21 pm
Wow frat boy your name says it all.
=========
Ain’t that the truth.
My Take
June 30, 2024 at 7:36 am
Attack TRUMP
Attack MAGA
Attack White Christian Nationalism
Attack over abortion.
Biden is NOT the enemy.
FSU Frat Boy
June 30, 2024 at 7:44 am
Abortion. That’s all you have to campaign on My Take. Good luck with that. Maybe you guys will blow the dust off the old Demo talking point that the Repubs are coming after social security and Medicare. Again good luck with that one. Better start focusing on voter harvesting and drop off box stuffing.
My Take
June 30, 2024 at 5:22 pm
Well then there is the quasi-fascism’
Jojo
June 30, 2024 at 7:59 am
ALL media outlets are beginning to disgust me. This hyperbolic handwringing about one performance by Biden is ridiculous.
Where are the cries for Trump to stand down, given that all he can do is lie and demean?
FSU Professor
June 30, 2024 at 8:17 am
Biden lied that the Border Patrol is endorsing him for President. He also lied when he said no Americans have been killed abroad under his watch. Selective listening on your part I guess.
SuzyQ
June 30, 2024 at 8:28 am
The emperor has no clothes; and every corporate news media outlet, its personalities and talking heads who have attested to the emperor’s cognitive qualifications and aptitude have been gaslighting the American people, in other words, lying. What else have they been lying to the American people about? The man should have a driver’s license, much less the nuclear codes.
Impeach Biden
June 30, 2024 at 8:54 am
You are absolutely correct Suzy Q. What else have they been lying about?
Elvis Pitts "THE BIG VOICE ON THE RIGHT" American
June 30, 2024 at 9:01 am
Goot Morn ‘Ting Sage Patriots,
Always remember:
ITS NOT NEWS UNTIL ELVIS “WEIGHS IN”.
ELVIS WEIGHS IN:
I’ve listened to all the political prognasticators taking sides:
1.) They are gonna run with Biden.
OR
2.) They are gonna parachute in a Michelle O., a Gavin Poo-Some from Cali.
OR
3.) Wild cards like Opra, Hillary, and other Desperate Democrat Crazy ideas.
“Heres the deal, no joke Cornpop” they must run with Joe and sit back for the next 3 Presidential Cycles and lick their wounds.
UNLESS:
They take Joe out. Of course that would be against the law and the bumbeling fools would likely get caught
UNLESS:
They get a seasoned pro to Take Him Out like …. well the only person qualified to do it and never get caught would be ….. oh whats that expert’s name ….. hmmmm …. oh yeah I got it ….. Hillary.
Now, Sage Patriots, there is one person, other than me Elvis Pitts American who was named twice in my article.
That person is the answer to the great mystery of 1.) Who the Dems will run and 2.) How they are gonna do it.
Elvis Pitts American
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