President Joe Biden’s top allies came to his defense on multiple news programs Sunday, acknowledging the president’s subdued debate performance but arguing that he remains the strongest candidate against former President Donald Trump in the general election.
“I think he’s the only Democrat who can beat Donald Trump,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., Biden’s campaign co-chairman, during an interview on ABC News’ “This Week.” “And let me tell you, we had the best day of grassroots fundraising after the debate.”
Biden’s campaign on Sunday he said has raised US$33 million since the debate, of which US$26 million came from public donations. Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn on Saturday also praised campaign fundraising numbers during a panel on MSNBC’s “The Weekend.” She argued that voters liked Biden’s focus on debate issues rather than Trump’s rhetoric and personality.
“The reality is that I think voters experienced this debate a little differently than perhaps some of the party members did,” Dunn said. Coons on Sunday also praised the campaign’s standing with voters after the debate.
“The first poll we saw after the debate showed Joe Biden gaining ground on Donald Trump. I understand there is a lot of angst, concern and pearl-clutching among the comments – that’s great, that’s to be expected,” Coons said.
While some Biden campaign officials acknowledged his popular support, they also referenced internal daily polls that reflected Biden’s debate night performance.
“The president is the first to say it wasn’t his best night,” said Molly Murphy, a Biden campaign researcher, in an interview with “Inside with Jen Psaki.” “We see this in our research. That’s something we’ve seen.”
“What they also took away from the debate is that most people who watched the debate felt that the president was talking about issues that mattered to them,” she added.
Asked whether Biden’s advisers and the campaign bear any responsibility for the performance, Coons also acknowledged that Biden had a “weak debate” but argued that Trump’s baseless claims represented a “horrible” performance.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who served as speaker of the House, made a similar reference to Trump when acknowledging on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Biden had a “bad night.”
Asked to respond to a afternoon–June CBS News/YouGov Poll which showed that 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%, Pelosi sought to draw a stark contrast between Biden and Trump.
“Well, what do they think about the other guy? Do they think he has the integrity to be president after this performance?” Pelosi said, referring to Trump. “We are not going to make a judgment on a presidency in a single debate.”
“It’s not about performance in terms of debate, it’s about performance in a presidency,” she continued. “And I want you to know that the fact is that the reaction to Donald Trump’s lies is something that maybe television isn’t focusing on, but people are. And have a debate where you have to spend half your time denying what he said because he knows nothing but the truth. On one side of the screen, you have integrity. On the other side you have dishonesty.”
Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., another key Biden ally, said the president’s “poor performance” during the debate does not reflect 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 who are the leaders and their partners, we have a lot of indications about what their future behavior would be. ,” Clyburn said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Therefore, Joe Biden should continue to run with this record.”
Asked if he understands why some Democrats and independents who weren’t interested in voting for Trump are now also not interested in voting for Biden after the debate, Clyburn said he would tell them to take Biden’s presidential record into consideration.
Clyburn maintained that Biden should remain in the race amid calls for him to step aside, arguing that the president was obligated to combat Trump’s false claims during the debate due to rules that were established beforehand.
“The guy told about 30 lies, and nobody checked him and said that was up to Joe Biden,” he said.
The strong defense from Biden’s key allies comes after his debate performance raised 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. in your place.
Biden’s campaign, however, has made efforts to ensure the president isn’t going anywhere and remains focused on next steps after his dismal debate performance. A senior administration official told NBC News that during several discussions with Biden’s top aides and advisers, one main message was conveyed: “We will weather the storm, as we always have.”
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
