US president Joe Biden’s family is urging him to stay in the race and keep fighting despite last week’s disastrous debate performance, even as some members of his family privately expressed exasperation at how he was prepared for the event by his staff, sources said on Sunday.
Mr Biden huddled with his wife, children and grandchildren at Camp David, Maryland, while he tried to figure out how to quell Democratic anxiety. While his relatives are acutely aware of how poorly he did against former president Donald Trump, they argued he could still show the country that he is capable of serving for another four years.
Mr Biden has also been soliciting ideas from advisers about how to proceed, and his staff has been discussing whether he should hold a news conference or sit for interviews to defend himself to change the narrative, but nothing has been decided.
One of the strongest voices imploring Mr Biden to resist pressure to drop out was his son Hunter Biden, whom the president has long leaned on for advice, said one of the people informed about the discussions.
Other family members were trying to figure out how they could be helpful. At least one of the president’s grandchildren has expressed interest in getting more involved with the campaign, perhaps by talking with influencers on social media, according to the informed person.
The anger among Democrats was made evident Sunday when John Morgan, a top Democratic donor, publicly blamed the advisers who managed the president’s debate preparations, citing by name Ron Klain, Anita Dunn and Bob Bauer.
He elaborated in a subsequent interview. “It would be like if you took a prizefighter who was going to have a title fight and put him in a sauna for 15 hours then said, ‘Go fight,’” he said. “I believe that the debate is solely on Ron Klain, Bob Bauer and Anita Dunn.”
Members of Mr Biden’s family were likewise said to be focused on the president’s staff, including Ms Dunn, a White House senior adviser, and her husband, Mr Bauer, the president’s personal attorney, who played Mr Trump during debate rehearsals.
They were asking why Mr Klain, the former White House chief of staff who ran the preparations, would in their view allow him to be overloaded with statistics, and they were angry that Mr Biden, who arrived for the debate in Atlanta with a summer tan, was made up to look pale and pallid, said one of the people, who has been in touch with several members of the family.
But the person said that the president himself was not among those who were upset and that he still trusted Mr Klain, Ms Dunn, Mr Bauer and the others. Other Democrats said it was unfair to blame the staff for the president’s failings, dismissing what they called typical second-guessing and scapegoating aimed at diverting fault away from the president himself.
A couple of Democrats pointed out that neither family members nor other critics attended the preparation sessions and therefore had no idea how they went. One member of Mr Biden’s circle said that no one was happy with how the debate turned out and that it was human nature to look for someone to blame.
In the days since the debate, Mr Biden has privately and publicly acknowledged that he did not do well, and he has been calling trusted advisers as well as key donors and party figures.
But two people familiar with the president’s calls said that they were more about checking in to see what people were saying, rather than to seek advice about reassessing his future.
A new poll by CBS News found strong sentiment among Democratic voters for Mr Biden (81) to cede the way to a younger nominee. Forty-five percent of Democrats said they wanted a different candidate to take on the battle with Mr Trump.
Among voters overall, just 27 per cent think Mr Biden has the mental and cognitive health to serve as president, down from 35 per cent before the debate.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.