A televised debate has thrown U.S. President Joe Biden’s election into crisis. The United States CBS (CBS) on June 30 published the results of the latest poll showed that after the first round of television debate on the 27th, 72% of registered voters believe that Biden’s mental and cognitive health is not suitable for the presidency. Among Democrats, that percentage also increased dramatically. Biden launched a crisis communications campaign on the issue. CNN said that on June 30, big Democratic names flocked to television stations for interviews to express their support for Biden and to try to divert attention away from Biden’s chaotic and painful debate and turn the spotlight back on the possible consequences of another Trump presidency. They also found a new reason for Biden’s poor debate performance: advisers “overtrained” Biden before the debate, leaving him too tired. CNN says the top Democrats are caught in a dilemma between “replacing Biden” and “keeping Biden”.
Family encourages Biden to keep campaigning
According to CBS, a survey of 1,130 registered voters nationwide, conducted by the media outlet in conjunction with the pollster Opinion View on 28-29 June after the first round of the televised debate on June 27, showed that 72 percent of voters thought Biden’s mental and cognitive health was unfit to serve as president, compared with 49 percent who said the same of Trump. Among registered Democratic voters, 41 percent of respondents said Biden does not have the mental qualities needed to serve as president – up from 29 percent in the early June poll. The poll also showed that nearly half (45 percent) of Democratic voters want the 81-year-old Biden to step aside for a younger nominee, and 55 percent of Democratic voters said they want Biden to stay in the race.
A USA Today poll showed a similar picture. The newspaper said July 1 that its poll, conducted in conjunction with Suffolk University, showed that Biden’s poor performance in last week’s debate had shaken his core support, with 41 percent of Democrats saying the party should nominate another candidate, which included 37 percent who had planned to vote for Biden.
Biden’s family urged him not to give up, the New York Times said.Biden gathered with his wife, children and grandchildren on June 30 at Camp David, the presidential resort. One of the strongest voices persuading Biden to resist pressure to drop out came from his son, Hunter, whose advice the president has always valued, a person familiar with the matter said. Hunter wanted Americans to see the father he knew – full of fight and knowing the facts – not the stumbling, aging president he saw on the night of the 27th. It was the first time the entire Biden family had gathered since Hunter’s conviction for illegal gun possession, which is still facing sentencing, as well as a trial regarding another tax charge, according to the report.
Meanwhile, a number of Biden’s party allies and top Democrats flooded the media with loud expressions of support for the president. Senator Warnock said on the NBC program, “Biden showed his character and his courage, not in those 90 minutes, but in the last (nearly) four years.” CNN said many of the Democrats considered possible replacements for Biden have publicly expressed support for Biden’s continued candidacy, fearing to be called “traitors.”
The only less harmonious voice came from Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin. He said on MSNBC that it’s unclear where President Biden goes from here, and that “there’s a very honest, serious and rigorous conversation going on at all levels of our party that the Democrats are going to be united, whether it’s by him or whether it’s by somebody else running.”
New claim emerges: blame the consultant
A narrative accusing Biden of being too harsh in his preparation for the debate, which was held in isolation at Camp David for six days, began to emerge on Sunday, the British newspaper The Guardian said.
American Political News Network said the disastrous debate after three days, the Democrats began to Biden’s poor performance to shirk responsibility. The party does not deny that Biden’s performance is very bad, but they are increasingly pointing out that Biden’s age or cognitive ability outside of other factors, that the president should not be responsible for the failure of his debate, the real reason is that he is “over-prepared”, CNN moderators did not adequately verify Trump’s statements, and so on.
“I’ve been involved in debate prep before, and when I saw the alleged over-preparation, I knew what was going on,” Rep. Clyburn said on a CNN program Sunday, “and that’s exactly what happened that night.” Biden’s campaign deflected blame almost immediately after the 27th debate, including claiming the president had a cold, according to the report. Over the next few days, Democrats continued to look for topics to deflect discussion of Biden – including that the president’s accomplishments shouldn’t be overshadowed by a 90-minute debate and that Trump’s performance, while stronger, was full of lies.CNN said Biden’s family was so frustrated with the team that prepared him for the debate that they privately discussed whether they the advisers should be fired and whether there should be a shakeup of the campaign staff. However, Biden is known for being loyal and protective of his close advisers and does not like to fire aides. As of the 30th, there did not appear to be any major staffing changes imminent.
Florida attorney John Morgan, one of the Democratic Party’s most prominent donors, on the 30th publicly blamed several advisers responsible for Biden’s debate preparations. “Biden has long been fooled by the values of Anita Dunn and her husband,” Morgan wrote on social media, “They need to go away …… today, outrageous liars, this is political malfeasance. ” Morgan further explained in a subsequent interview, “It’s like if you took a boxer who was going to fight a title fight and put him in a sauna to steam for 15 hours and then said, ‘Go fight.’ I think this debate is entirely the responsibility of Ron Klein, Bob Bauer and Anita Dunn.” The White House did not comment on the remarks.
Democrats in a dilemma
So far, no top Democrat has publicly called for Biden to drop out, with most following the party line and sticking with the current campaign lineup, AFP said on July 1st. Forcing a change in the slate would be a politically controversial practice, and Biden would have to decide on his own to drop out and make way for another candidate before the party convention in August. Many election gamblers have also abandoned Biden, choosing to bet on Trump or other Democratic leaders, according to the report. Before the debate, bettors on the Smarkets platform put the odds of Biden winning in November at 35 percent, but that number has since dropped below 20 percent.
CNN says some Democrats are angry that Biden is acting too cocky. Top Democrats also fear that if Biden were to drop out at this point and hold a new nomination contest, it could spark an internal fight that could effectively give Trump the presidency. For now, the Biden team appears to have avoided immediate danger, according to the report. According to his team, he raised over $33 million in the days following the debate. The heavyweights willing to defend him on television suggest that he hasn’t lost his party yet – even if a full-blown meltdown is taking place behind the scenes.
