President Joe Biden is convening with immediate family members to deliberate on his reelection strategy following a disastrous debate showing on Thursday night against former President Donald Trump.
According to NBC News, Biden will gather with his family at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland after a debate “that left many fellow Democrats worried about his ability to beat” Trump in the upcoming election, as per five sources. The news outlet mentioned that the trip had been scheduled prior to the debate. The president and first lady Jill Biden were accompanied by their children and grandchildren late on Saturday.
“So far, the party’s top leaders have offered public support for Biden, including in tweets posted by former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Senior congressional Democrats, including Reps. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Nancy Pelosi of California, have privately expressed concerns about his viability, said two sources apprised of those discussions, even as they all publicly back the president,” NBC reported.
“One Democratic House member who believes Biden should drop out of the race — but has yet to call for that publicly — told NBC News that three colleagues expressed the same sentiment to him during votes on the House floor Friday,” the outlet added.
“Speaker Pelosi has full confidence in President Biden and looks forward to attending his inauguration on January 20, 2025,” Ian Krager, a spokesman for the former House speaker told NBC. “Any suggestion that she has engaged in a different course of action is simply not true.”
Meanwhile, Christie Stephenson, a Jeffries spokeswoman, said the House minority leader has “repeatedly made clear publicly and privately that he supports President Joe Biden and the Democratic ticket from top to bottom.”
“Any reports alleging that the Congressman has expressed anything other than firm support of President Biden are completely untrue,” a spokesman for Clyburn added.
NBC noted further:
“At the same time, there is an understanding among top Democrats that Biden should be given space to determine next steps. They believe only the president, in consultation with his family, can decide whether to move forward or to end his campaign early — and that he won’t respond well to being pushed.”
“The decision-makers are two people — it’s the president and his wife,” said one source familiar with the situation, NBC reported. The outlet added: “Anyone who doesn’t understand how deeply personal and familial this decision will be isn’t knowledgeable about the situation.”
Despite delivering a passionate speech at a rally in North Carolina on Friday that reassured some of his supporters, Biden was reportedly feeling humiliated, lacking in confidence, and acutely aware that the lasting images of him at the debate – with his eyes fixed on the distance and mouth open – will overshadow his presidency, coupled with a performance that was, at times, disjointed, unclear, and difficult to follow. That individual remarked: “It’s chaotic.”
A different source mentioned that the only person who holds influence over Biden’s decision to either withdraw or persist in the race is the first lady.
“The only person who has ultimate influence with him is the first lady,” that person told NBC. “If she decides there should be a change of course, there will be a change of course.”
