WASHINGTON — After his dismal debate performance, President Joe Biden set out to prove to voters and Democratic leaders that he is not the confused politician they may have seen on stage that night.
He gave some interviews, spoke at rallies and mingled with trade unionists and black churchgoers. On Thursday, he will hold a press conference and on Monday he will be interviewed by NBC News’ Lester Holt.
However, his control over his party’s nomination remains precarious, although the tide of lawmakers calling for his resignation appears to have slowed for now. Many Democratic lawmakers, donors and strategists say he has yet to demonstrate the vigor Americans expect from a president. They would like him to drop out of the race, an invitation Biden declined.
“The campaign needs to accept that [the debate] This wasn’t just a blip, this is a real problem,” Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., said in an interview. “They also need to understand that we need to get him out and hold more public events that are unscheduled. If he’s able to do that, great, let him do it. If he’s not able to do that, then we really have to think about whether he’s the right person to step up and keep Donald Trump out of the White House.”
Biden’s developments in the two weeks since the debate underscore why doubts persist. Advisors placed a cordon around him in order to minimize possible embarrassment. A controlling communications operation limits the freer exchanges with the media that other presidents were more willing to accept.
On the surface, Biden’s timeline appears to meet the test Democratic lawmakers have set for him.
“The president is out there,” Cedric Richmond, Biden’s campaign co-chair, said Tuesday in an interview with MSNBC. “He is addressing those concerns. He is showing his vigor; he is showing his determination. And we must support that and move forward.”
A closer look suggests he is still being protected in ways that may make it harder to ignore his halting debate performance. By trying to protect an aging president, his team may be reinforcing the perception that he cannot function without intensive stage management.
Last week, Biden called into two radio stations to answer questions — the kind of step Democratic leaders said was important to show he can think on his feet.
Unbeknownst to listeners, the Biden campaign provided questions to the hosts in advance.
“I’ve been doing this for decades and I’ve never, not once, asked a reporter questions to ask the director,” said a veteran of Barack Obama’s administration.
Biden was at times incoherent, despite the inherent advantage of being able to anticipate issues. Speaking to WURD radio in Philadelphia on July 3, he said: “By the way, I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president – the first black woman – to serve with a black president…”
Amid backlash over pre-approved issues, Biden’s campaign team said they won’t do it again.
Last Friday, Biden sat down for an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News. When it was all over, Biden’s campaign team struggled to give a response that was at least a little more intelligible than it seemed at the time.
How, Stephanopoulos asked, would Biden feel if he lost to Trump? It sounded like Biden said he wanted to do the “best” job he could. This non-word produced a torrent of mockery on social media.
Initially, ABC News used the word “best” in the transcript it posted. The Biden campaign then contacted the network to object, saying Biden had actually said something else. ABC News retracted the word and quoted Biden as saying, “I’ll feel like as long as I’ve given it my all and done the best job I know I can do, that’s what it’s all about.”
Citing the updated transcript, Biden campaign aides contacted other media outlets, including NBC News, to ask that the word “better” be removed from the coverage.
(A Biden campaign spokesperson said in response to a question about efforts to get the word right: “ABC made an error in the transcription and corrected it. We then flagged it to reporters.”)
A town hall-style event is another way that presidents have typically sought to escape the insularity of the West Wing and hear from real voters, with the media able to follow the exchanges. The last two Democratic presidents, Obama and Bill Clinton, held a series of town hall events during their time in office.
After the debate, some lawmakers asked Biden to hold a town hall meeting so the nation could see him answer unvetted questions in real time.
“He needs to hold town halls and small roundtables with voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia and be as visible as possible to voters,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., told NBC News.
Since facing Trump, Biden has yet to participate in a town hall event. The campaign spokesperson said, “Our events in Wisconsin and across Pennsylvania this past week alone have allowed the president to speak directly, one on one, with dozens of voters.”
A town hall is a high-risk proposition, as the president cannot rely on a teleprompter or written notes.
Biden has benefited from both aids since the debate. He called into MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday and insisted he was in the running to stay. He didn’t appear on camera, so people couldn’t see him. But at one point, when he said he was “reading a list of lies” from Trump, listeners could hear the rustling of papers in the background.
“They are so afraid that their deficiencies will become manifest,” Mike McCurry, White House press secretary under Bill Clinton, said of Biden’s team.
In its zeal to present Biden in the most favorable public light, his campaign has used aggressive measures that run counter to its stated respect for free press.
A New York Times reporter wrote on social media Last month, at a rally in Las Vegas for Vice President Kamala Harris, a member of the Biden campaign interrupted interviews he was doing with voters when the comments turned critical of Biden.
Biden campaign team members sometimes insist that at events a staff member be present for reporter interviews with voters in the crowd. Members of Biden’s campaign team accompanied an NBC News reporter in Philadelphia in April as he interviewed volunteers participating in the opening of a new office.
At a Biden campaign event this year in a swing state, another NBC News reporter asked staff members if the reporter could interview voters. The campaign offered a Democratic consultant without disclosing that this was the person’s role.
Asked about the incident, Biden’s campaign said: “If this was anyone’s experience, it should not have been, and we have taken steps to ensure all employees understand our policy.”
McCurry said he doesn’t blame Biden’s advisers. With the caveat that he said he has no inside knowledge of what Biden aides have been telling their boss, McCurry added: “I feel very sorry for the people around him, most of whom I know very well. I believe they tried carefully to explain the reality to him. … They tried to present him with the truth, but in the end it’s up to Biden. He’s the guy who has to decide if he’s ready for this or not.”
Biden’s next big test comes Thursday, at the end of a three-day NATO summit in Washington. He will participate in a press conference with reporters investigating whether he has a more serious physical condition than the White House has let on.
A news conference is even riskier than a town hall, giving Biden a new chance to allay concerns about his cunning. Some wonder if it will be too late or if impressions about Biden’s weaknesses have already been consolidated.
Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate and a delegate to the upcoming Democratic National Convention, said the White House waited too long to contain the fallout from the debate. Biden has been too isolated from the public, she said, a dynamic that has worked to his disadvantage.
“They should have understood immediately, and they didn’t. I think they thought it would go away and they were surprised, I guess, like I was, that it had legs,” she said of the debate.
“But it actually happened, and people are still talking about it two weeks later, and that’s unfortunate for a good president.”
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
