President Joe Biden allegedly planned a public relations campaign to solidify his position as the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee following his poor debate performance last week.
Following a two-day gathering with family members at Camp David to discuss Biden’s political standing, preparations are underway for a public relations campaign. Despite calls from some media allies and Democrats for him to withdraw from the race, top officials told Axios that Biden intends to press forward and remain a candidate for president.
Biden’s choice seems to be strongly influenced by First Lady Jill Biden and other family members, including Hunter Biden, according to sources who are in regular contact with them, Axios reported.
The new public relations strategy involves conducting more public interviews and press conferences. This marks a departure from Biden’s previous limited media availability, a strategy that drew criticism from the media, particularly the New York Times.
Axios reported that the public relations strategy comprises an eight-point plan:
- Dismiss “bedwetting”
- Squeeze polls for juice
- Warn of chaos
- Limit dissent
- Keep elected leaders close
- Get the donor class to chill
- Prove vitality
- Ignore/engage the media
According to sources from Axios, The New York Times, and Politico, Biden and his family staunchly opposed calls for him to step down.
Axios reported, ‘”You guys don’t get to decide,’ a source close to Biden said, referring to high-profile Democrats now second-guessing Biden as a nominee. ‘That’s not how this works. We don’t have smoke-filled rooms.’” (emphasis original)
‘”They just have to cool down,’ the source added. ‘We live in a democracy, at least for now.’”
“The entire family is united” that Biden will not drop out, and no discussions occurred about doing so. “You get up and keep fighting,” one person informed about the situation told The New York Times.
Politico reported on Sunday that the family blames Biden’s campaign and White House staff for the debate performance:
Members of Joe Biden’s family privately trashed his top campaign advisers at Camp David this weekend, blaming them for the president’s flop in Thursday’s debate and urging Biden to fire or demote people in his political high command.
There is no immediate expectation that Biden will follow through on that advice, according to three people briefed on the family conversations but not directly involved. The three people were granted anonymity to discuss the matter.
Among the family’s complaints about the debate practice: that Biden was not prepared to pivot more to go on the attack; that he was bogged down too much on defending his record rather than outlining a vision for a second term; and that he was over-worked and not well-rested.
Political analysts suggest that Democrats could be committed to Biden for several reasons: the challenges of replacing Biden on 50 state ballots, the challenge of moving money behind a new candidate, and the challenge of finding a candidate who would likely be a sacrificial lamb to run in Biden’s place.
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