US President Joe Biden’s family members privately criticised his top campaign advisers for his poor performance at the CNN debate with Republican challenger Donald Trump on Thursday (June 27). The family, meeting at Camp David during the weekend, wanted the advisers to be fired or demoted.
However, Biden is not expected to fire or demote anyone immediately.
The Biden family urged the president to continue his campaign. First Lady Jill Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, were the loudest voices urging the president to carry on.
Top Democrats reject calls to replace him
Top Democrats also rejected calls to replace him after the debate, which was watched by 52 million and ignited calls for him to quit the race.
A CBS/YouGov national survey conducted after the debate found that 72% of the voters and nearly half his own party do not believe Biden has the mental or cognitive health to serve as president.
Forty-nine per cent of the voters also do not believe that former president Trump has the mental or cognitive ability to be commander-in-chief again.
The Biden family complained that the president was not coached to be more aggressive, that he got bogged down in defending his record rather than outlining his vision for a second term, and that he was overworked and not well-rested.
Biden acknowledged he had not performed well at the debate. The next day, at a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, he said, “I don’t debate as well as I used to,”
The family blamed, among others, Anita Dunn, the senior adviser close to the president; her husband, Bob Bauer, the president’s attorney who played Trump in rehearsals at Camp David; and Ron Klain, the former chief of staff who played a key role in preparations for the debate.
However, Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said: “The aides who prepped the President have been with him for years, often decades, seeing him through victories and challenges. He maintains strong confidence in them.”
Biden allies and staffers have said the president was ill and over-prepared and that the CNN moderators failed to fact-check Trump.
Top Democrats on Sunday (June 30) ruled out the possibility of replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee.
Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, one of several Democrats seen as a possible replacement for Biden, said the president should stay in the race.
Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, a leading Biden surrogate, also wanted Biden to carry on.
“I think he’s the only Democrat who can beat Donald Trump,” Coons said.
Source: Politico, Reuters, USA Today
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