President Joe Biden reportedly devised a public relations campaign to remain the Democrat Party’s presumptive nominee after his disastrous debate performance last week.
The public relations campaign follows a two-day huddle with family members at Camp David to reportedly discuss Biden’s precarious political position. Biden, who many media allies and Democrats said should drop out of the race, will press forward and remain a candidate for president, top officials told Axios.
Biden’s decision appears heavily influenced by First Lady Jill Biden and additional family members, such as Hunter Biden, people who talk regularly with them told Axios.
The new public relations strategy is to conduct more public interviews and press conferences. The plan is a change from Biden’s lack of media availability, a tactic criticized by the media and especially by the New York Times.
The public relations strategy includes an eight-point plan, Axios reported:
- Dismiss “bedwetting”
- Squeeze polls for juice
- Warn of chaos
- Limit dissent
- Keep elected leaders close
- Get the donor class to chill
- Prove vitality
- Ignore/engage the media
Calls for Biden to step down were vigorously opposed by Biden and his family, Axios, Times, and Politico sources said.
Axios reported, “‘You guys don’t get to decide,’ a source close to Biden said, referring to high-profile Democrats now second-guessing Biden as nominee. ‘That’s not how this works. We don’t have smoke-filled rooms.’” (emphasis original)
“‘They just have to cool down,’ the source added. ‘We live in a democracy, at least for now.’”
“The entire family is united” that Biden will not drop out, and no discussions occurred about doing so. “You get up and keep fighting,” one person informed about the situation told the Times.
The family blames Biden’s campaign and White House staff for the debate, Politico reported Sunday:
Members of Joe Biden’s family privately trashed his top campaign advisers at Camp David this weekend, blaming them for the president’s flop in Thursday’s debate and urging Biden to fire or demote people in his political high command.
There is no immediate expectation that Biden will follow through on that advice, according to three people briefed on the family conversations but not directly involved. The three people were granted anonymity to discuss the matter.
Among the family’s complaints about the debate practice: that Biden was not prepared to pivot more to go on the attack; that he was bogged down too much on defending his record rather than outlining a vision for a second term; and that he was over-worked and not well-rested.
Political experts suggest that Democrats might be stuck with Biden for three reasons: the challenges of replacing Biden on 50 state ballots, the challenge of moving money behind a new candidate, and the challenge of finding a candidate who would likely be a sacrificial lamb to run in Biden’s place.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.