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.

  • John Richard@lemmy.world
    720·
    5 months ago

    Not if Biden steps down. Having a new candidate puts some much needed energy into this election cycle. I’m just worried Hillary will rear her head.

    • crusa187@lemmy.ml
      72·
      5 months ago

      There is still time for Biden to do the right thing and step down, but the window is closing fast. If this is such an important election where we choose democracy over fascism, you’d think they would act to preserve the nation’s best interests.

      It’s also extremely dangerous at this late juncture…Hillary isn’t the only frightful replacement being bandied about by the establishment right now. I’ve also seen calls for Kamala or Jeffries to step in, which would be disastrous in both cases.

      • John Richard@lemmy.world
        54·
        5 months ago

        The issue with Kamala is people can now say she’s known about Joe for a while and kept it hidden for selfish reasons. I think there are lot of Dems that could do better than Biden, but there isn’t much time left like you said. The sooner, it shows that Biden himself isn’t just power hungry, and people will be empathetic given what they saw during the debate. I don’t see how it would hurt the odds for a party to do what is right for once.