Biden team 'isn’t being straight with him, and that’s dangerous': former campaign official
After President Joe Biden's highly anticipated interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, multiple Democratic officials and operatives are increasingly concerned about the president digging in on running his campaign through November.
During the interview, Biden shrugged off the growing calls from within his party to step aside, saying that only "the Lord Almighty" could convince him to exit the 2024 race. He also refused to acknowledge the veracity of numerous polls showing his approval rating slipping after his universally panned debate performance against former President Donald Trump, and said that even if Trump were to win, he would feel fine with that result "as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest[sic] job as I know I can do."
An unnamed former official who worked on Biden's 2020 campaign recently confided to Politico that the president's inner circle "isn’t being straight with him, and that’s dangerous."
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At one point, Stephanopoulos asked Biden if he would consider taking a cognitive test and publishing the results to prove that he was mentally fit to be president and continue his 2024 campaign. He countered that he would not, and posited that every day on the job counts as a cognitive test. Rep. Judy Chu (D-California) told Politico she was particularly concerned about that comment.
"I found the answer about taking a cognitive test every day to be unsettling and not particularly convincing, so I will be watching closely every day to see how he is doing, especially in spontaneous situations," Chu said.
When Congress returns from its July 4 recess next week, it's likely that a growing number of House and Senate Democrats will add their names to the growing number of Biden supporters formally asking the president to step aside and allow someone else to be the party's nominee in November. Already, four members of the House — Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Raúl Grijalva (D-Arizona), Seth Moulton (D-Massachusetts) and Mike Quigley (D-Illinois) — have publicly called on Biden to leave the race. And Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia) is reportedly aiming to confront Biden with a group of Democratic senators to do the same.
“Democrats have spent the last few days trying to give him space and grace,” an unnamed former Biden administration official told Politico. “Because he’s digging in, we’re seeing an effort to take it up a notch or two. And that should be more worrying to the Biden operation than anything.”
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Biden attempted to reassure Democrats of his viability as a general election candidate during a Friday rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he spoke to a crowd of roughly 1,000 supporters in the heavily Democratic capital city of the Badger State. His campaign has also touted Biden's continued strength in fundraising, bringing in roughly $27 million in the days following the debate.
Still, donors remain unconvinced that Biden is the best candidate to run against Trump, and some have circulated an 11-page document making the case for Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him at the top of the ticket. Even some delegates to next month's Democratic National Convention in Chicago have expressed a preference for Harris, saying the party "can do better" with her or another younger, high-profile Democrat as the nominee.
According to Politico, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) will be meeting with senior Democrats in the House of Representatives tomorrow to discuss how to deal with the continued fallout over Biden's disastrous performance in the late June debate.
Click here to read Politico's report in its entirety.
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