An interview and a meeting with governors: the strategies with which Joe Biden seeks to calm criticism after the debate against Donald Trump

The president of United States, Joe Biden will have two important interactions in the coming days to try to calm the criticism after his poor performance in last Thursday’s debate against Donald Trump: He will give an interview to the prestigious journalist George Stephanopoulos of the ABC network and will meet with governors of his party.

A source close to the Democrat’s reelection campaign told Efe that the meeting with the governors will take place on Wednesday and will take place mainly virtually.

The meeting is the clearest indication yet that Biden is trying to calm the nerves of some members of his own ranks, after the June 27 election debate against his rival, Former Republican President Donald Trump (2017-2021), where he appeared aged, with a hoarse voice and having difficulty finishing some of his sentences.

Biden’s performance in that debate, at 81 the oldest president in the country’s history, did little to dispel voters’ doubts about his ability to govern.Instead, his actions provoked the opposite reaction, with voices from the Democratic Party publicly and privately calling for his removal.

On Tuesday, for example, Congressman Lloyd Doggett became the first Democratic member of parliament to publicly call on US President Joe Biden to withdraw from the race for the White House.

I hope you will make the difficult and painful decision to retire. I respectfully ask you to do so.

“Recognizing that, unlike (Donald) Trump, President Biden’s first commitment has always been to his country, not to himself, I hope that he will make the difficult and painful decision to withdraw. I respectfully ask him to do so,” the Texas congressman said in a statement.

Former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that it was “legitimate” to question whether the president was fit for office after their disastrous debate.

Added to this is a poll published Tuesday by CNN that has also fueled fear in the Democratic camp: 75% of voters surveyed believe that the party would have a better chance in November with another candidate.

Trump has 49% of voting intentions nationwide, compared to 43% for his rival Biden, a difference that has not changed since the last poll of this type, carried out in April.

Vice President Kamala Harris, though she would not win, would be in a better position, with 45% to the former Republican pre
sident’s 47%.

Other potential Democratic candidates, some of them little known to the public, would face Donald Trump with scores similar to the current president’s, despite their lack of notoriety, such as California Governor Gavin Newsom, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Calls and meetings with donors, the strategy of Joe Biden’s campaign

Biden on Tuesday attributed his poor performance in the debate against Donald Trump to fatigue accumulated from incessant international travelbut he clarified that “it is not an excuse, but an explanation.” “It was not very smart” to have “traveled around the world a couple of times (…) shortly before the debate,” he said. “I almost fell asleep on stage,” he said.

But to try to calm things down, Biden’s campaign team has been doing an intense public relations effort with multiple calls and meetings to reassure major donors, members of Congress and other elected officials, sources close to the Democratic Party told Efe.

One of the options being considered to improve Biden’s public image was a high-profile interview with a media outlet in which he would demonstrate his ability to answer questions without a script or without following a teleprompter speech.

So, ABC announced Tuesday that Stephanopoulos will conduct an interview with Biden, which will air Sunday on the show ‘This Week’, although the first promotional trailers will air on Friday.

In addition, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre announced on Tuesday new events on the president’s agenda for this week, including: Biden is scheduled to hold a campaign event on Friday in Wisconsin, a key state in the election where he will give the interview to the ABC journalist.

On Sunday, the president will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and next week he will hold a press conference to coincide with the NATO summit in Washington, which will be held from July 9 to 11, the spokeswoman said.

These activities add to an already busy schedule for Biden, which includes other events that had already been made public on Sunday, such as the traditional White House barbecue on Thursday for July 4, the United States Independence Day.

The White House also tried on Tuesday to lift the spirits of Democratic heavyweights and congressmen who question the president’s fitness by stating that Biden “knows how to come back,” spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, ruling out the possibility of the octogenarian undergoing a cognitive test because “it is not justified, it is not necessary.” In February, his doctor declared him fit to govern.

Until now, Biden has given no indication that he wants to withdraw from the race for the White House and influential figures in the Democratic Party, like former President Barack Obama (2009-2017), have closed ranks around him.