Biden’s family tells him to keep fighting in presidential race as they huddle at Camp David

WASHINGTON – 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 clan privately expressed exasperation at how he was prepared for the event by his staff, people close to the situation said on June 30.

Mr Biden huddled with his wife, children and grandchildren at Camp David while he tried to figure out how to tamp down Democratic anxiety.

While his relatives were acutely aware of how poorly he did against former president Donald Trump, they argued that he could still show the country he remained capable of serving for another four years.

Mr Biden has been soliciting ideas from advisers about how to proceed, and his staff have been discussing whether he should hold a news conference or sit for interviews to defend himself and change the narrative, but nothing has been decided.

The campaign scheduled what could be a crucial call with its national fund-raising committee for July 1 to calm nerves and take temperatures.

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, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to share internal deliberations.

Hunter Biden wants Americans to see the version of his father that he knows – scrappy and in command of the facts – rather than the stumbling, ageing president Americans saw on the night of June 27.

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 on June 30 when Mr John Morgan, a top Democratic donor who is close to Mr Biden’s brother Frank, publicly blamed the advisers who managed the President’s debate preparations, citing by name Mr Ron Klain, Ms Anita Dunn and Mr Bob Bauer.

“Biden has for too long been fooled by the value of Anita Dunn and her husband,” Mr Morgan wrote on social media. “They need to go... today. The grifting is gross. It was political malpractice.”

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.”

Mr Klain, Ms Dunn and Mr Bauer had no comment about the debate preparation, but Mr Klain said that it was 100 per cent certain the President would stay in the race.

“He is the choice of the Democratic voters,” Mr Klain said. “We are seeing record levels of support from grassroots donors. We had a bad debate night. But you win campaigns by fighting – not quitting – in the face of adversity.”

He recalled a primary debate in 2019 that went badly but did not stop Mr Biden.

“It’s a tough, close campaign and he’s the person who can win it,” Mr Klain said. “Big-money donors don’t get to dictate the nominee of the Democratic Party.”

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 per cent of Democrats said they wanted a different candidate to take on the battle with 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.

Democratic allies took to talk shows on June 30 to defend the President.

“If they weren’t engaged in a little bit of hand-wringing, they wouldn’t be Democrats,” Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock said on NBC.

But he added: “Joe Biden has demonstrated, not over 90 minutes, but over the last four years, the character and the mettle of the man that he is.”

Maryland Governor Wes Moore acknowledged that Mr Biden’s age was a concern for voters. “The number 81 is an important number,” he said on CBS. “But so is watching historically low unemployment rates. And I don’t think that people should lose sight of that.”

Mr Moore said he would not run if Mr Biden did drop out. “Joe Biden is not going to take himself out of this race, nor should he,” he said. “He has been a remarkable partner.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dismissed talk of the President dropping out. “I support the Biden-Harris ticket,” she told Ms Jen Psaki, a former Biden White House press secretary, on MSNBC. “I’m not abandoning Joe Biden right now, for any speculation.”

The “right now” in that comment, however, did not go unnoticed, and Democrats were still watching to see what their senior elected leaders would do, wondering whether they might intervene privately with the President despite their public comments of support.

Representative Jamie Raskin acknowledged that Mr Biden’s fate was uncertain. “There are very honest and serious and rigorous conversations taking place at every level in our party,” he said on MSNBC, adding that the party would be unified “whether he’s the candidate or someone else is the candidate”.

If any major discussions about the President’s future were to take place with the family, two Biden confidants said, they would not happen at Camp David, where too many people outside the family might overhear.

The family had planned before the debate to spend the weekend at Camp David, in part to participate in a photo shoot with veteran celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz.

It was the first time the entire family had assembled in one place since Hunter Biden was convicted of federal gun charges; he still faces sentencing and another trial on tax charges.

A senior administration official who was not authorised to detail internal conversations said there was an ongoing debate over how the President moves forward – not about dropping out, but about how best to make the case that he should not. NYTIMES