• Joe Biden ‘s campaign team and his allies noted that the president’s ‘bad performance’ during the debate is not reflective of his presidential record
Allies of American President Joe Biden have come out to defend him following his poor performance during the US Presidential debate.
Speaking during different TV interviews on Sunday, June 30, Biden’s allies acknowledged his subdued performance but held that he is still the best bet to trample over former President Donald Trump and win the top seat in the upcoming general election in November 2024.
“I think he’s the only Democrat who can beat Donald Trump. And let me tell you, we had the single best day of grassroots fundraising after the debate.” Senator Chris Coons, D-Del., a Biden campaign co-chair, disclosed during an interview on ABC News.
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Joe Biden’s campaign team on Sunday, June 30, revealed that it had raised about $33 million barely days after the debate.
According to the US President’s campaign team, $26 million of the aforementioned amount came from grassroots donations.
Joe Biden’s senior adviser Anita Dunn on Saturday, June 30, also touted the campaign’s fundraising numbers while appearing in a panel on MSNBC’s show, The Weekend.
Anita Dunn reiterated that voters liked Biden’s focus on pertinent issues during the debate compared to Donald Trump’s rhetoric and personality.
“The reality is that I think voters experienced this debate a little differently than perhaps some of the insiders did,” Dunn said.
Senator Coons echoed Dunn’s sentiments on Sunday, June 30, as he too touted the campaign’s standing with voters following the just concluded presidential debate.
“The first poll that we saw after the debate showed Joe Biden gaining ground on Donald Trump. I understand there’s a lot of hand-wringing and concern and pearl-clutching amongst the commentary and that’s great, that’s expected,” Coons stated.
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While some Biden campaign staffers acknowledged his grassroots support, they also referenced internal daily polling that reflected Biden’s debate-night impeccable performance.
“The president is the first to say it was not his best night. We see that in our polls. That is something that we have seen.” Biden’s campaign pollster Molly Murphy disclosed during an interview on Inside with Jen Psaki.
“What they also took out of the debate is a majority of people who watched the debate felt like the president talked about issues that they cared about,” she added.
Asked whether Biden’s advisers and the campaign team bear any responsibility for the president’s luke-warm performance, Coons acknowledged that Biden had a “weak debate,” but insisted that Trump’s baseless claims amounted to a “horrifying” performance.
Representative Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who served as House speaker, similarly referenced Trump while admitting that Biden had a bad her interview with CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ show.
Pelosi drew a stark contrast between Biden and Trump when she was asked to respond to a late-June CBS News/YouGov poll that showed 72% of voters do not believe Biden has the mental and cognitive health to serve as president, with a margin of error of 4.2%.
“Well, what do they think about the other guy? Do they think that he has the integrity to be president after that performance? Let us not make a judgment about a presidency on one debate.” Pelosi said.
“It’s not about performance in terms of a debate, it’s about performance in a presidency. And I want you to know that the fact is that the reaction to the lies of Donald Trump is something that maybe TV isn’t focusing on, but people are. And to have a debate where you have to spend half your time negating what he said, because he knows nothing but the truth. One side of the screen, you have integrity. The other side you have dishonesty.” She added.
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Another notable personality who is Joe Biden’s ally, Representative Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., noted that the president’s ‘bad performance’ during the debate is not reflective of his presidential record.
“I always say that the best predictor of future behavior is past performance, and when we look at the past performance of these two men that are the front-runners and their partners, we get a lot of indication about what their future behavior would be. So Joe Biden should continue to run on this record.” Clyburn said during an interview with CNN’s State of the Union show.
Asked if he understands why some Democrats and independents who were not interested in voting for Trump are now not interested in voting for Biden either after the debate, Clyburn said he would tell them to take Biden’s presidential record into account.
Clyburn insisted that Biden should remain in the race to White House amid calls for him to step aside.
He urged that the president was obligated to combat Trump’s false claims during the debate due to the rules that were set beforehand.
“The guy told 30-some-odd lies, and nobody checked him on it and said that was up to Joe Biden to do,” he said.
The latest turn of events comes after Biden’s debate performance prompted significant concerns within the Democratic Party, with some congressional Democrats and regional editorial boards calling on the president to drop out of the presidential race and allow a younger candidate to run instead.
Joe Biden’s campaign team has however made efforts to reassure Americans that the president is not going anywhere and he is still focused on the next steps after his dismal debate performance.
