Efforts to save Biden's candidacy, which are still underway as the president spends time with his family at Camp David, appear to have temporarily calmed public doubts and bought the president some time. Still, the ambitious and frenzied attempt by the president's aides, supporters and family members to contain the damage after Biden struggled to build a coherent case against Republican rival Donald Trump during Thursday's debate has become a case study study of a campaign that fell into crisis.
As of Sunday, no top Democratic official had called for Biden to drop out of the race. Several Democrats have publicly expressed renewed support for him, even as they note that his performance in debates has raised concerns about the party’s performance in November.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) acknowledged on MSNBC's “The Weekend” that House Democrats are engaged in discussions about the future of Biden's candidacy. He noted that because the House is in recess next week for July 4, those discussions will continue by phone and virtually.
But he added that “one thing must be clear: There is a stark difference between our view of the world, the country, and the future, and the extreme MAGA Republican view.”
Biden's action Thursday “was certainly a setback,” Jeffries added. “But of course I believe that a setback is nothing more than a preparation for a comeback.”
Other top Democrats — including Reps. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and James E. Clyburn (S.C.), and Sens. Raphael G. Warnock (Ga.) and Chris Coons (Del.) – all appeared on various television channels on Sunday to renew their pledge. to support the president's re-election bid.
The public show of support followed a rushed private effort that began before the debate ended Thursday, when private group chats, hushed conversations and social media were abuzz with consternation over the Democrats' prospects.
Biden aides began telling the media during the debate that the president had a cold, rationalizing his thin, raspy voice and unstable delivery. Vice President Harris immediately said afterward that his “slow start” was not a sign of broader weakness, and campaign surrogates in the spin room tried to shift the focus from Biden’s stumbles to Trump’s falsehoods and extreme comments.
The pressure continued Friday and throughout the weekend, including a flurry of activity from Biden, his wife Jill and other allies. All this against the backdrop of major editors, columnists and Democratic commentators calling on the president to withdraw from the race.
In the days since the debate, a wave of influential voices who previously supported Biden, including New Yorker editor David Remnick, New York Times columnists Tom Friedman and Nick Kristof and “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough, have called on the president to withdraw from the race or at least seriously consider it.
During a virtual meeting of the Democratic National Committee on Saturday, hastily scheduled with less than 24 hours' notice, leaders urged their members to continue to stand behind Biden.
“We have to support him,” DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison said, according to members of the call who requested anonymity to describe private conversations. Harrison acknowledged that Biden had not gotten any younger, but emphasized the message that he was not a liar like Trump, one recalled.
However, the call did not provide an opportunity for members to share their concerns with party leaders; there was no question-and-answer session and the chat function was disabled. Such moves frustrated members who had hoped for a more honest conversation about the party's difficult path forward.
Party leaders and campaign managers, on the other hand, boasted about their success with fundraising, yard sign distribution, house parties and surrogate events. They laid out a strategy to bring social media influencers to the Democratic convention in Chicago.
Harrison closed the conversation by telling the members that he was going on a Disney cruise, fulfilling a promise he made to his children. The incident did not dispel doubts, but it did fuel frustration among some.
“It’s a confident group,” said one participant. “This is all competent. But who knows if it’s enough.”
A Democratic member of the House of Representatives said the call was “appalling” and that the message was not based in reality.
Jeffries and other Democrats in House leadership have privately asked concerned lawmakers from competing districts to remain quiet for a few more days and wait to see what happens, the member said.
Despite the pressure campaign, at least some elected Democrats are publicly expressing their concerns, while others are waiting for the polls before speaking out.
On MSNBC on Sunday, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said there was a “major problem with Joe Biden’s debate performance.”
“There are very honest, serious and rigorous conversations taking place at every level of our party,” he said.
Biden has tried to appear more forceful in public than the stumbling, hoarse debater that millions of Americans saw at the prime-time event that his campaign negotiated and advocated for.
He has hosted several events in recent days, including a raucous rally in Raleigh, NC, where he vigorously prosecuted the case against Trump while debuting a new line that directly acknowledged his age and limitations.
“I don’t walk as smoothly as I used to. I don’t speak as fluently as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” Biden said, raising his voice as the crowd responded in kind. “But … I know how to tell the truth. I know what’s right and wrong. I know how to do this job.”
Several Democrats have cast the Raleigh event as a pivotal moment of reassurance, even as they questioned the stark difference between the president's performance during the debate and his performance a day later.
“That is the Joe Biden we all know and love, and frankly the one we had hoped would show up on the debate stage,” said Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist who remains committed to Biden's re-election.
Cardona, who was on the DNC call Saturday, dismissed the “tangential talk from strategists, pundits and editors” calling for Biden to resign.
“They don't really matter,” she said. “What really matters are the elected officials, the donors and the voters.”
Around the same time Biden was holding a rally in Raleigh, he received a critical endorsement from former President Barack Obama, whose own shaky 2012 debate also rocked his reelection campaign.
“There are bad debate nights. Trust me, I know,” Obama posted on social media Friday afternoon. “But this election is still a choice between someone who has spent his life fighting for ordinary people and someone who only cares about himself.”
On Friday, several aides gathered at Biden’s campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, to watch the rally. They stood and celebrated as they watched Biden energize before a crowd of more than 2,000 supporters.
At a staff meeting afterward, campaign chairman Jen O'Malley Dillon tried to rally the troops, acknowledging the tough night and encouraging aides to focus on creating a sharp contrast with Trump.
“We've all been through tough times,” she told the assembled staff, according to a recording of the meeting. “We've all wished that something would go a little bit better than it may have gone. And then our job and our decision is, can we continue to fight for it and make sure we put the work in, and that's what I think the president has done.”
In a series of memos, the campaign has attempted to downplay concerns from pundits and commentators who have argued that Biden did irreparable damage to his candidacy during the debate. They have pointed to a flood of donations — more than $33 million since Thursday — and other figures suggesting voters are still rallying behind Biden.
On Saturday, O'Malley Dillon released a memo saying that despite the poor showing, little had changed in a race she had long expected to be close to the end. She suggested that any polls showing Biden bleeding were temporary and the result of “exaggerated media narratives.”
Hours later, deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty went a step further in a sharply worded memo to supporters, aimed at vigorously combating those who have tried to force Biden out of the race.
“The bedwetting brigade is calling on Joe Biden to ‘drop out,’” he wrote. “That’s the best possible way for Donald Trump to win and us to lose. First of all, Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee, period. End of story. Voters voted.”
He suggested that Biden's resignation would lead to weeks of chaos and infighting among Democrats, all of which would boost Trump's chances.
Such an argument should weigh heavily on Biden's mind as he considers his place in history and the consequences of prematurely ending his bid for the presidency, said Tevi Troy, a presidential historian.
“Biden holds all the cards here,” he said. “As long as he says he's going to run, he can keep running. It doesn't matter what Tom Friedman says. It doesn't matter what Nick Kristof says. It's Biden's decision.”
Mariana Alfaro and Leigh Ann Caldwell contributed to this report.
