The family of US President Joe Biden has urged him not to end his campaign for reelection despite the widespread disappointment following his debate against Republican challenger Donald Trump, CNN has reported.
Biden’s performance in his first face-off with Trump on Thursday was widely viewed as a disaster, with CNN describing it as “stunningly poor” on Monday. The 81-year-old appeared frail and confused, struggling to finish his sentences and mixing up words. Public calls have been made for the Democrats to replace the president on their ticket for the November 5 election, including from the New York Times editorial board, with media reports claiming that the idea is backed by some of the party’s major donors.
On Sunday, Biden’s family, including First Lady Jill Biden, son and convicted felon Hunter Biden, and their grandchildren, convened at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland for a previously scheduled photo shoot with photographer, Annie Leibovitz.
Senior Biden advisers who talked to CNN stressed that discussing the future of the president’s campaign was not the intended goal of the meeting. But the question was brought up, with family members offering their “unequivocal support” for Biden remaining in the race, according to one adviser.
Another told the broadcaster that the family was “clearly frustrated” with the team that prepared the president for the debate. They considered sacking some of his top aides and other campaign staff changes, the source said.
The family discussion at Camp David was reported by several other outlets, with Politico’s sources claiming that scapegoating staff meant that Joe Biden’s own significant shortcomings during the debate were overlooked. According to the outlet, senior adviser Anita Dunn, her husband and the president’s attorney Bob Bauer, who played Trump in rehearsals at Camp David, as well as former chief of staff Ron Klain, faced the harshest criticism from Biden’s relatives.
Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said in a statement that “the aides who prepped the president have been with him for years, often decades, seeing him through victories and challenges. He maintains strong confidence in them.”
Publicly, the president’s team explained his failure in the debate by saying he had a cold, was over-prepared, and that CNN moderators did not fact-check claims by Trump. When asked by journalists last week if Biden was planning to step aside, his campaign replied “of course not.”