chairman Joe Biden He is already facing criticism within his own camp over his Friday night interview with ABC News. George Stephanopoulos,
In another shaky assessment Biden DisplaySeveral Democrats expressed dissatisfaction with the 81-year-old US president, who told Stephanopoulos that high-profile figures in the party, including Chuck Schumer And Hakeem Jeffries“Everyone said I should stay in the race.”
Before the recorded interview aired, some Democratic lawmakers indicated that Biden’s appearance would not change their minds, 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 such predictions were correct.
One Democratic pooh-bah called Biden’s interview “a huge missed opportunity.” Requesting anonymity to offer a candid assessment, the longtime donor bundler told The Daily Beast, “This was his Alamo, and he’s going down like Davy Crockett.”
Former Congressman Crockett died in a historic final battle against Mexican forces in Texas in 1836.
“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 nearly evaded any forward-looking answers, despite being repeatedly prodded to do so. George StephanopoulosHe didn’t mention inflation once. He rambled on in his speech and cut his answers short for no apparent reason. In one of the more tense exchanges, he refused to take a cognitive test.
A Democratic strategist who had only seen online clips of the interview offered a different opinion.
“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. It’s a very common thing to say ‘no,’ even if it’s not exactly PR-friendly.”
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 promote Biden’s accomplishments, saying Biden “has done it once before and he’ll do it again,” in reference to defeating Trump.
“The work he has done over the last…years is extraordinary. Trump would destroy almost everything… Can Biden beat Trump? Yes.”
