NEW YORK (AP) — There is a growing sense of concern within the top ranks of the Democratic Party whose leaders are a part Joe BidenThe campaign and the Democratic National Committee are not taking the impact of the president’s troubling debate performance earlier this week seriously enough.
Chairman DNC Jaime Harrison held a phone call Saturday afternoon with dozens of committee members from across the country, a group of some of the party’s most influential members. He did not acknowledge Biden’s weak performance Thursday night, nor the avalanche of criticism that followed.
Several committee members who took part in the call and asked to remain anonymous to talk about the private conversation described feeling like they were being gaslighted — being asked to ignore the serious nature of the party’s plight. The conversation, they said, may have exacerbated a widespread sense of panic among elected officials, donors and other stakeholders.
Instead, the people said, Harrison offered what they described as a rosy assessment of Biden’s path forward. The chat function was disabled and no questions were allowed.
Many donors, party strategists and rank-and-file DNC members have said publicly and privately that they want the 81-year-old Biden to step aside so the party can select a younger replacement at the Democratic National Convention in August. So far, Biden’s closest allies have insisted he remains well-positioned to compete with Republican Donald Trump and have given no indication they will push him to end his campaign.
Those best positioned to replace him — including Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — reiterated their support for Biden after the debate.
Many are eagerly awaiting the first major round of post-debate public polling to determine their next steps.
Polls from CNN and 538/Ipsos taken shortly after the debate showed that most debate viewers thought Trump performed better than Biden. But the two men’s ratings remained largely unchanged, much as they did in the wake of Trump’s conviction on charges in New York that he illegally participated in a hush-money scheme to influence the 2016 election.
In a later appearance on MSNBC, Harrison downplayed the significance of the conference call, which he said was part of a regularly scheduled communication “to talk about the state of the race” and the upcoming national convention with the DNC’s many elected members across the country.
Biden and his campaign have sought to project confidence in the days since Thursday’s debate in which the president, already facing serious concerns about his physical and mental stamina, gave a performance punctuated by repeated stumbling, awkward pauses and a quiet speaking style which are often difficult to understand.
Immediately after Saturday’s DNC call, Biden’s campaign released a memo from senior adviser Jen O’Malley Dillon emphasizing that the debate had no tangible impact on the election.
“By every metric that matters, data shows it has done nothing to change the perception of the American people, our supporters are more excited than ever, and Donald Trump has only reminded voters why they celebrate him years ago and has failed to expand its appeal beyond its appeal. MAGA base,” O’Malley Dillon wrote.
She added: “If we see changes in the polls in the coming weeks, it won’t be the first time that exaggerated media stories have caused temporary drops in the polls.”
Meanwhile, Biden spent much of Saturday courting wealthy donors in New York’s famously wealthy Hamptons enclave.
“I didn’t have a great night, but neither did Trump,” Biden said of the debate at a rally in East Hampton.
Of Trump, Biden said: “The most important lesson was his lies.”
Trump, meanwhile, hailed Biden’s performance at a rally Friday and suggested on his social media platform Saturday that Biden had faded “under enormous pressure.”
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Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Washington and Josh Bo in East Hampton, New York, contributed to this report.
