chairman Joe Biden He is facing criticism from within his own camp over his Friday night interview with ABC News. George Stephanopoulos,
in assessing Bidenonce again Unstable performanceMany Democrats have expressed their dissatisfaction with the US president, despite the fact that Stephanopoulos, 81, pointed out that high-profile figures in the party, including Chuck Schumer And Hakeem Jeffries“Everyone said I should stay in the race.”
Before the pre-recorded interview aired, some Democratic lawmakers indicated their minds would be unchanged by Biden’s appearance, Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) told Axios: “The debate was watched by 40 million people, so it’s going to take more than a rally and an interview to prove that Trump is unfit to be president.” Another unnamed lawmaker said the interview would change “zero” opinions.
It appears that the predictions came true.
One high-ranking Democratic poobah called Biden’s interview “a huge missed opportunity.” The longtime donor told The Daily Beast, requesting anonymity in order to offer a candid assessment. “This was their Alamo, and they’re going down just like Davy Crockett.”
A senior Democratic source close to some longtime activists in the donor community cited the classic story of 1836, when former congressman Crockett died in one of the iconic American final battles to defend the eponymous fort at the center of the Texas Revolution.
“The question is when and how,” the source said, referring to how Biden might step aside and let the vice president leave office. Kamala Harris “The response has been terrible – but a lot of the donors I know haven’t seen it yet.”
Another Democratic donor bundler told Atlanta Journal Constitution Biden “reminded me of the time my grandfather refused to believe he shouldn’t be allowed to drive anymore and everybody knew about it except him.” The second donor bundler also said Biden’s delivery was “very worrying” but “not as bad as the debate” and “it didn’t help.”
Appearing on CNN after the interview, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), who was the first Democrat to call on Biden to step down after the debate to run against Trump, said in the interview hadn’t changed his mindAnd he continued to call on Biden to step down. Describing Biden as a “good man,” he said “the need for (Biden) to step aside is more urgent tonight than it was when I asked for it.”
Meanwhile, a House Democrat pointed out nbc news They plan to “break their silence soon” because of how “tragic” and “totally out of touch with reality” Biden’s performance was.
In his interview, Biden avoided almost any forward-looking answers, despite repeated provocations. George StephanopoulosNot once did he mention inflation. He wandered off in his train of thought and cut his answers short for no apparent reason. In one of the more tense conversations, he refused to take a cognitive test.
A Democratic strategist, who understood the interview only through clips circulating online, offered a different perspective.
“The pieces I saw sounded fine,” the strategist told The Daily Beast. “But people are misrepresenting things to get a foothold on Twitter/because they want him off the ticket.”
Asked if the president’s performance affected any fundamental aspect of the race, another Democrat said he didn’t think so, saying “no” is a very common thing to do, even if it doesn’t make for good PR.
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Not all Democrats are turning their backs on Biden, however. Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) appeared on CNN to tout Biden’s accomplishments, blithely claiming in reference to defeating Trump that Biden “did it once before and he’ll do it again.”
“The work he’s done over the last…years is extraordinary. Trump would destroy almost everything…Can Biden beat Trump? Yes.”
