Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: He is 81, and his aging problems are now well-known worldwide. His office said he cannot work properly beyond a six-hour window in sunlight. He has just infamously lost the first presidential hopefuls’ debate against his bete noire Donald Trump, forcing the Democratic Party to wonder if he could still be replaced by, say former President Barak Obama’s wife, Michelle, to salvage the party’s honor in the November election.
Still, President Biden’s family, and some in the party, at least officially, want him to remain in the race against Trump who, at 78 himself, is leaving no stone unturned to prove that Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr, is no longer fit to retain the White House for the next four years, the media reported.
Now, reports indicated, the Biden family is imploring him to stay in the race and not drop out after last week’s poor performance in the debate against Trump.
Huddling with his wife, children, and grandchildren during a visit to Camp David, President Biden discussed how to handle Democratic anxiety, The New York Times reported.
The Biden family and relatives realized how disastrous his first presidential debate performance was. Yet, they believe he is still fit to serve another four years. Biden’s staff has been discussing how to proceed, whether they should arrange a news conference or let him get interviewed so he can defend himself, but no decision has been made yet.
According to the media reports, his son Hunter Biden is one of the strongest voices imploring the President to stay in the race. At least one of Biden’s grandchildren has said they would like to get more involved with the campaign by talking to influencers on social media.
Biden’s performance has alarmed the Democratic Party just four months before the general election. John Morgan, a top Democratic leader, blamed the President’s advisers who handled the debate preparations.
“Biden has for too long been fooled by the value of Anita Dunn and her husband. They need to go… TODAY,” he wrote on X. “The grifting is gross. It was political malpractice.”
President Biden’s family members are not pleased with his staff either, including White House senior adviser Dunn, her husband Bob Bauer, and Ron Klain the former White House Chief of Staff who is known to have run the preparations. But an insider said the president himself is not upset and still trusted his staff. Another insider said Jill Biden, the First Lady, did not criticize them either.
A White House official dismissed claims other family members of the President were upset. Some Democrats, too, believe it is not fair to blame Biden’s staff for his own failures.
Klain said there was no doubt that Biden would stay in the race. “He is the choice of the Democratic voters,” Klain said. “We are seeing record levels of support from grass-roots donors. We had a bad debate night. But you win campaigns by fighting — not quitting — in the face of adversity.”
He recalled how a primary debate in 2019 turned out to be bad, but Biden still kept going. “It’s a tough, close campaign and he’s the person who can win it,” Klain said. “Big-money donors don’t get to dictate the nominee of the Democratic Party.”
The Camp David weekend plan was already planned by Biden’s family before the debate. Their aim, in part, was to take part in a photo shoot with celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz. This was the first time the whole family gathered together after Hunter’s conviction.