WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is fighting to salvage his threatened reelection bid Friday as he holds a rally and sits on television for an interview in a crucial state. His every answer will undoubtedly be scrutinized for evidence of his competence and fitness to run for office.
It could be a turning point for Biden, who has been under pressure to withdraw from the campaign after his disastrous performance in the debate against Republican Donald Trump raised concerns that the 81-year-old Democrat cannot handle the job for another four years.
The interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulostaped after a campaign rally in Madison, Wis., is expected to be intense and intense, and two people familiar with the president’s efforts said he had been aggressively preparing. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.
There was broad agreement that Biden could not afford another “bad day,” and so he wrote off his debate flop. It was unclear whether even a mediocre performance would be enough to assuage concerns about his fitness to serve.
Amid private angst among Democratic lawmakers, donors and strategists after Biden’s damaging debate performance, most in the party have publicly held the fire as they wait to see if the president can rebuild some confidence with his weekend travel schedule and handling of the Stephanopoulos interview, which airs in full on ABC on Friday night.
Biden’s reelection campaign is forging ahead with aggressive plans despite the uncertainty. It plans to pair its in-person events with a new $50 million ad campaign this month aimed at capitalizing on high-viewership moments like the Summer Olympics, which begin July 26 in Paris.
Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, First Lady Jill Biden and Mr. Doug Emhoff will travel to key states this month, as organizers plan to knock on more than 3 million homes in July and August to reach voters in person in a new $17 million initiative.
Biden himself will campaign in Pennsylvania on Sunday. He will also travel to southwestern states, including Nevada, after hosting the NATO summit in Washington next week, the campaign said Friday. He will also continue to focus on the so-called “blue wall” states — Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan — that have been crucial to him in the past.
In a strategy memo released Friday morning, the campaign also specifically emphasized that Biden would engage in “frequent, spontaneous moments” — once a hallmark of the gregarious, easygoing politician’s career but one that has waned during his presidency.
For Biden, every moment now is crucial to rebuild the lost trust that resulted from his shaky performance in Atlanta last week. Yet the president continued to make mistakes that did not help him.
During an interview with WURD radio in Philadelphia that aired Thursday, Biden stumbled and said, “I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, the first Black woman to serve with a Black president” — mumbling some of his oft-used lines about his pride in serving with the first Black president and electing the first Black woman as vice president.
Such verbal gaffes are not uncommon for Biden, but they are gaining increasing attention in this environment.
During a hastily arranged meeting with more than 20 Democratic governors Wednesday night, Biden acknowledged that he needs to get more sleep and limit evening activities so he is rested for his job, according to three people who spoke anonymously about the private meeting. Governor of California. Gavin Newsom later told reporters in Holland, Michigan, that Biden’s comment about limiting events after 8 p.m. was a joke, noting that he said it “with a smile on his face.”
Newsom said no one in the room tried to sugarcoat the reality of last week’s debate.
“You looked at the physiology. You saw everything about it. It was the breathing, it was the physicality, the whole thing,” Newsom said at a subsequent event in Holland.
He said Biden had asked all the governors for advice and told the president to focus more on discussing the future.
“It’s one thing to talk about the past. It’s one thing to talk about the list of achievements, but what is the compelling vision? What are we fighting for? What is this election about?” he said.
Biden is expected to use his rally in Madison to run through his favorite talking points as he tries to defeat Trump, highlighting protections for democracy, the economy and “our rights and freedoms,” his campaign said.
Wisconsin officials, including Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan and state party chairman Ben Wikler, will speak. Notably, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who is running for reelection in one of the most crucial races for Senate control this year, will be present elsewhere.
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Associated Press editor Joey Cappelletti in Saugatuck, Michigan, contributed to this report.
