Joe Biden looked to recapture his mojo and reassured donors at a Saturday fundraiser that he is fully up to the challenge of beating Donald Trump despite a lackluster debate performance two days prior that has some top Democrats calling for him to step aside.
Making matters worse, current and former White House aides are questioning whether Biden could fulfill a second term, per a new report from Axios.
“It’s time for Joe to go,” Chandler West, the White House’s deputy director of photography from January 2021 to May 2022, wrote in an Instagram story after from screenshots Axios obtained. “I know many of these people and how the White House operates. They will say he has a ‘cold’ or just experienced a ‘bad night,’ but for weeks and months, in private, they have all said what we saw last night — Joe is not as strong as he was just a couple of years ago.”
More from the report: “Biden’s behavior stunned many in the White House in part because Biden’s closest aides — often led by Jill Biden’s top aide, Anthony Bernal, and deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini — took steps early in his term to essentially rope off the president.”
Biden was halting and seemed to lose his train of thought Thursday night, sparking quick concerns among Democrats about the man they hope will keep former Trump from returning to office. For his part, Trump made repeated false claims and provocative statements. But Trump seemed smoother and more vigorous than Biden, who is only three years older than the Republican ex-president.
Trump’s supporters have seemed unconcerned about his relationship with the truth, and his performance and delivery helped him. Biden’s supporters consistently express concern about the president’s age and capacity and he did little to reassure them.
On Saturday, Biden conceded it was a bad performance.
“I didn’t have a great night, but I’m going to be fighting harder,” Biden told attendees at the home of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. “Donald Trump is a genuine threat to the nation,” he emphasized, saying that his predecessor would undermine democracy if returned to the White House and his economic ideas would worsen inflation.
In the aftermath of that debate, Biden flashed more vigor in speeches in North Carolina and New York on Friday, saying he believes with “all my heart and soul” that he can do the job of the presidency.
The Biden campaign said it has raised more than $27 million on Thursday and Friday, including $3 million at a New York City fundraiser focused on the LGBTQ+ community.
Jill Biden told supporters Friday that he said to her after the debate, “You know, Jill, I don’t know what happened. I didn’t feel that great.” The first lady then said she responded to him, “Look, Joe, we are not going to let 90 minutes define the four years that you’ve been president.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.
