While his family was aware of how poorly he performed against Donald Trump, they also continue to think he’s the best person to beat the Republican presumptive nominee.

President Joe Biden’s family used a Sunday gathering at Camp David to urge him to stay in the race and keep fighting despite his dreadful debate performance, and some members criticized how his staff prepared him for the faceoff, according to four people familiar with the discussions.

Biden spent the day sequestered with first lady Jill Biden, his children and grandchildren. It was a previously scheduled trip to the presidential retreat in Maryland for a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz for the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

But the gathering was also an exercise in trying to figure out how to quell Democratic anxiety that has exploded following Thursday’s performance.

While his family was aware of how poorly he performed against Donald Trump, they also continue to think he’s the best person to beat the Republican presumptive nominee. They also believe he is capable of doing the job of president for another four years, according to the people who were not authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

  • Pheonixdown@lemm.ee
    184·
    4 months ago

    I think you’re suggesting that he committed to being a 1-term president as part of his campaign. You might be remembering a bunch of sensationalized articles based on a Politico article where an unnamed “prominent advisor” said “he won’t be running for reelection” and a bunch of other mostly unnamed people also suggested he wouldn’t/shouldn’t run again. Which led to tons of other articles, which parroted it as fact.

    The Politico article even further went on to be updated after it was first published to add a quote from Biden’s deputy campaign manager and communications director at the time, which stated Biden was “not privately considering declining to run for re-election.”

    So he never made that commitment and the only official communication refuted the speculation.

    Reference Politico - Biden Single Term

    Slate even covered this recently in another article, where they were unable to locate any official commitment related to serving a single term.

    Reference Slate - Biden Single Term

    Disclaimer: I also wish we had another option, just presenting some evidence. Maybe it’ll make you feel better with your choice.