President Joe Biden's performance at Thursday night's debate has prompted head-scratching and hand-wringing from Democrats. But one of former President Donald Trump's most outspoken Republican critics thinks Biden will be just fine if his staff sets him up to succeed.
During a Friday night interview with MSNBC host Joy Reid, Michael Steele – who chaired the Republican National Committee between 2009 and 2011 — opined that Biden's naysayers are overreacting to his widely panned debate performance. When Reid asked him if Biden's surrogates need to hit the road and make a more convincing argument to re-elect the 46th president of the United States, Steele countered that Biden should actually be the one to make the case for himself.
"It has to be him, and I think it has to be him in a big way," Steele said, praising Biden's far more energetic speech at a rally in North Carolina on Friday afternoon. "Folks just need to calm the hell down. Democrats need to check themselves. All this talk about replacing him is not going to happen. Joe Biden is not going to make that move, the first lady is not going to encourage him to make that move. At least thats my assessment at this point."
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Steele's comments were in response to a mass panic by Democrats and Biden allies, who are contemplating an open Democratic convention in which a different nominee would be at the top of Democrats' ticket under the assumption that Biden ends his campaign. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman on Friday called on Biden to drop out of the 2024 election, saying that despite doing "an excellent job as president," the debate showed he was not equipped to the task of running the country for four more years.
"Based on his policy record, he should be an overwhelming favorite for reelection. But he isn't, and on Thursday night, he failed to rise to the occasion when it really mattered," Krugman wrote.
The New York Times Editorial Board echoed that sentiment in a piece of their own on Friday evening, arguing that the president should end his campaign "for the good of the country." However, Steele maintained that Biden's rally speech in North Carolina showed that when he's less restrained by talking points and debate prep, he can truly shine on the campaign trail.
"This is not a capitulation to the right. This is not a fall-down by the president that absolutely breaks his chances," Steele said. "The [Democratic] Party's gotta rally around that message chances and let him do it. Damn it, get out [of] the man's way! Let him make the little mistakes. Free him up! He was free today. Last night he was prepped to hell with data and information... I mean, it's crazy. It's crazy. So let the man just do his thing, because the country needs him to do it."
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As poorly received as Biden's debate performance was, it doesn't seem to have so far affected his polling position that much. Pollster FiveThirtyEight surveyed respondents in the wake of the debate and found that in spite of the president's slurred speech and lack of energy onstage, Biden only lost two points and Trump only gained two points.
The next debate will take place in September. Both Biden and Trump have said they'll be present, and Biden's team has indicated that the president has no intention to step aside and end his campaign.
Watch Steele's remarks below, or by clicking this link.
