There was chaos inside the White House on Friday as Democratic Party operatives, longtime advisers and party donors processed the failure of their candidate and boss in his disastrous debate with Donald Trump.
A sense of foreboding gripped some Biden acolytes as they absorbed the car-crash performance that has veterans of the Obama and Bill Clinton campaigns openly pondering whether he should be replaced.
“Right now, people are talking to each other,” Bill Clinton’s guru James Carville told DailyMail.com. “Believe me, it’s about a lot more than just the consulting class, and particularly the donor class,” he said.
The mood at the White House is “not good,” CNN reported, as shocked aides exchanged somber comments in group chats. Attendees described the performance as “terrible” and “ugly.”
Many were so discouraged that they opted to work from home. “We’re just feeling sorry for ourselves and we didn’t want to do it at a desk,” said one.
President Biden and some of his top surrogates did not have that luxury, and the president held a rally with his supporters in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Attendees shared their strong assessments of an “ugly” debate performance by President Joe Biden, with Democratic operatives resorting to expletives to describe the current state of the race.
Some attendees were so taken aback by the president’s debate performance, including several mumbled responses, that they spent the night updating their LinkedIn profiles “just in case,” Politico reported.
There was an organized effort to close ranks, with telegenic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro taking to the airwaves hours after Biden’s debate failure to tell members of his party to “stop worrying.”
Shapiro, 51, emerged after key political operatives hit the panic button.
Influential New York Times columnist Tom Friedman called Biden’s performance “heartbreaking” and said he “had no business running for re-election.”
“I would say to all those people who are worried right now: start working and stop worrying,” he told CNN. He acknowledged that Biden had a “bad night” and said the campaign needed a “clearer message.”
Former Obama political adviser David Axelrod was among those who raised questions about Biden’s reelection campaign months ago and continued to raise concerns.
‘Is not easy. The president is the one who holds the cards here. If he wants to be the nominee and continue to be the nominee, he will be the nominee.
He added: “Maybe he’ll decide the patriotic thing to do is to step aside.”
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman joined in the backlash, telling his Democratic colleagues to “relax” amid the panic.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was forced to remind Democrats that “the choice in this election remains very simple” and “I will vote for Biden.”
Biden acknowledged he’s not as good a debater as he used to be at an event in Raleigh, North Carolina
Biden’s team pushed for the early debate as a chance to reset his race against Trump, where he is trailing in the polls.
White House aides discussed Biden’s faltering performance in group chats
Obama’s post-presidential operation debunked an online rumor that he was headed to the White House to intervene.
Among the former White House aides who blew the whistle was Jon Favreau, who helped write many of Obama’s memorable campaign and White House speeches.
“Obviously that debate was a fucking disaster,” he said on their joint Pod Save America podcast.
“We have to beat Donald Trump. We need a candidate who can do that. And since we haven’t had the convention yet, it would be absurd for Democrats not to at least have a serious discussion about whether Joe Biden, who is a wonderful human being and has been a great president, is up to the job,” he said.
Amid the turmoil, top Biden campaign officials Julie Chavez Rodriguez and Quentin Fulks sought to reassure donors.
They acknowledged that Biden was not at his best, but insisted that he could still win.
His staff was scheduled to convene a general meeting, according to the Washington Post.
