Biden’s family tells him he should stay in the race. Only 28 per cent of Americans agree

Washington: US President Joe Biden’s family used a weekend gathering at Camp David to urge him to stay in the race and keep fighting despite his dreadful debate performance, with some members criticising how his staff prepared him for the face-off, according to four people familiar with the discussions.

Biden spent the day sequestered with first lady Jill Biden, his children and grandchildren, a previously scheduled trip to the presidential retreat in Maryland for a shoot with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz for the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

But the gathering was also an exercise in trying to figure out how to quell Democratic anxiety that has exploded following his debate performance.

A drumbeat of calls for Biden to step aside has continued since, and a post-debate CBS poll showed just 28 per cent of registered voters believed Biden should be running for president, including only 54 per cent of the president’s own party. Some 72 per cent said Biden didn’t have the mental and cognitive health to serve as president.

Among the most vocal at the Camp David gathering were Jill Biden and son Hunter, whom the president has long gone to for counsel and advice. Both believe the president shouldn’t bow out when he’s down and believe he can come back from what they see as one subpar performance.

The family questioned how he was prepared for the debate by staff and wondered if they could have done something better, the sources said.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Saturday with granddaughters (from left) Natalie and Finnegan Biden. Credit: AP

Biden’s campaign has spent the days since the debate, where he appeared raspy, trailed off, and at times gave convoluted answers, working to keep donors and surrogates on board.

At this point in the process, Biden would likely have to decide to drop out for there to be a new nominee. And the people he listens to most in the world, his wife and son, are telling him to stay in.

Even before the debate, the age of the 81-year-old Democratic president had been a liability with voters, and the prime-time face-off appeared to reinforce the public’s deep-seated concerns before perhaps the largest audience he will have in the four months until election day. CNN said more than 51 million people watched the debate.

While the president was huddled with his family, prominent Democrats rallied to deliver a public show of support for his campaign on Sunday.

“I do not believe that Joe Biden has a problem leading for the next four years,” said one close ally, James Clyburn.

“Joe Biden should continue to run on his record.”

Senator Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, spoke of Trump’s many falsehoods during the debate, including about the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters, immigration and the outcome of the 2020 election.

“Whenever his mouth was moving, he was lying,” Warnock said of Trump.

‘Maybe all incumbent Democratic senators should [write] to Biden asking him to … step aside so the convention can choose a new candidate.’

Former Democratic senator Tom Harkin

But concern simmered among some Democrats that Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee were not taking seriously enough the impact of the debate.

Former Iowa senator Tom Harkin, who served for more than two decades with Biden in the Senate, called the debate “a disaster from which Biden cannot recover”.

Harkin suggested that Democratic senators in pivotal races and “maybe all incumbent Democratic senators should pen a letter to Biden asking him to release his delegates and step aside so the convention can choose a new candidate”, according to an email to supporters.

“This is a perilous time, and is more important than the ego or desires of Joe Biden to stay as president,” Harkin concluded.

President Joe Biden with son Hunter Biden, daughter-in-law Melissa Cohen and grandson Beau.Credit: AP

Jamie Raskin, a Democrat representative from Maryland, described “very honest, serious and rigorous conversations taking place at every level of our party ... about what to do”.

But DNC chairman Jaime Harrison and Biden’s campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, held a Saturday afternoon call with dozens of committee members across the country, where they offered a rosy assessment of the path forward and gave no opportunity for others on the call to respond with questions.

Multiple committee members on the call, most granted anonymity to talk about the private discussion, described feeling like they were being asked to ignore a serious predicament.

“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,” said Joe Salazar, an elected DNC member from Colorado, who was on the call.

AP, Reuters

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