WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden arrived at the White House after two terms as vice president and nearly four decades in the Senate — an establishment resume if there ever was one. But facing calls to abandon his reelection bid, Biden is now framing his fight for political survival as “partisan elites” versus voters.
Biden’s current defiant stance is rooted in his — and most of his inner circle’s — conviction that many of those who called for his removal never firmly supported him to begin with, according to several people familiar with his thinking. Biden made that point, sometimes angrily, in an 18-minute interview Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“I don’t care what these big names think,” Biden said after the hosts listed some prominent Democrats who had called on him to step aside. “They were wrong in 2020. They were wrong in 2022 about the red wave. They were wrong in 2024.”
Uncertainty and fear about what will happen if Biden appears on the ballot against Donald Trump is a big factor driving nervousness in the party. Lawmakers, on recess in Congress since Biden’s shaky debate performance, returned to Washington on Monday, allowing for face-to-face discussions about his viability and potential contingencies should he step aside.
For now, Biden’s advisers argue that his poll standing has not changed enough to justify the level of panic among elected officials and pundits or the media coverage of his debate performance. But Biden said in a letter to Democratic lawmakers that public concern is making a difficult situation even worse.
“Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and harms us,” he wrote.
He called anxiety among Democrats a distraction on a call with donors Monday, according to quotes provided by the campaign.
“We can’t waste any more time being distracted. I have one job: to defeat Donald Trump,” Biden said.
Democrats are starting to echo the idea that infighting is hurting them.
“There is one thing to learn from Trump and the Republicans: make a decision and move forward together,” said a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, asserting that the betrayals and attacks need to be brought to an end quickly because they are hurting the party and whoever is involved. end. as the candidate.
Biden has always presented himself to voters based on the sensibilities of middle-class families and constituencies such as unions and black voters, despite his decades in Washington. As a senator, he commuted daily by train from Delaware. He also required his staff — including aides on the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees — to work shifts doing constituent service in their state offices or hold meetings outside of Washington.
Biden has been encouraged to fight by his family, polls that have not revealed any dramatic changes and support from some of his core supporters, according to a source familiar with his thinking.
Biden is now in a “staring contest” with elements of his party who have never fully supported him, a close ally said. Another source close to Biden said: “Joe Biden’s weakness is his age. Everyone else has weaknesses, or will invent them. But no one gets tested anymore.”
Biden made campaign stops in Pennsylvania on Sunday and stepped up his outreach — and soliciting advice — beyond his core circle of most loyal advisers. A former Biden staffer has spoken to him daily since the debate, the official said, after months of not having that kind of contact.
Biden spoke by phone Saturday with his campaign co-chairs, who offered him more direct feedback, a source familiar with the discussion said. One advised him to make the same kind of calls with the House and Senate candidates most at risk of losing their seats in November, most of whom have remained silent on Biden’s future.
When Biden stumbled during the competitive 2020 Democratic nomination contest, his campaign adopted one of two tactics: focusing on Trump and emphasizing that the winning Democratic coalition was much broader than the overwhelmingly white electorates of Iowa and New Hampshire and elite voices in the media and on Twitter.
“We’re listening to all these pundits and cable TV announcers talking about the race. Tell them it’s not over, man, we’re just getting started,” Biden said at a hastily organized rally in South Carolina the night he finished fifth in the New Hampshire primary.
Biden told the predominantly black audience that night that “too often your loyalty, your support, your commitment to this party has been taken for granted.”
Biden has resorted to both strategies in the last 72 hours. On Friday, he made some of his strongest denunciations of Trump at a rally in Wisconsin, calling for his political “exile” and warning that the Supreme Court’s recent immunity ruling would turn him into a dictator. On Monday, Biden’s campaign highlighted continued support from key members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
In his MSNBC interview and during a call with campaign donors on Monday, Biden said that despite panic among party elites, his campaign has seen an influx of support from grassroots donors and campaign volunteers. Her assessment came in part from her conversations with campaign officials during her recent campaign stops.
Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler said in an interview after Biden’s rally in Madison on Friday: “People who read the New York Times editorial page and refresh their Twitter feed are trying to figure out what is happening and what should happen next. The people who talk to voters and volunteer shifts are finding that, for the general public, this is an absolutely winnable election. The main question is how ready we are to do the work.”
The Trump campaign rejected the idea that Biden could advance by attacking elites.
“It’s hard to criticize what you literally define,” said Trump’s top adviser, Chris LaCivita. “Joe Biden has perfected the art of selling access (and his son in selling paintings).”
The challenge Biden faces now is finding a great moment to demonstrate his electoral viability, with more than two months until a second scheduled debate and 119 days until Election Day.
“The purpose of the debate was to draw more Trump into the conversation. We did exactly the opposite,” said a concerned Biden ally. “Even if Biden performs acceptably over the next four months, there is no story between now and Election Day that isn’t about that.”
Biden will have only closely scrutinized public appearances next week, including a press conference Thursday at the NATO summit, a campaign trip to Michigan on Friday and then events next week in Texas and Nevada aimed at Black constituents and Latinos.
A Biden campaign official said the campaign is confident the focus will return to Trump, especially when the Republican National Convention begins next week.
“The only constant in politics is change,” the official said.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
