(Axios) A massive political, PR and personal campaign is underway to reject calls for President Biden to drop his re-election race — and rally Democrats to move on from public debate about age and his future, top officials tell us.
Why it matters: Biden has zero interest in stepping aside — and First Lady Jill Biden and key family members and friends agree, according to people who talk regularly with them.
The intrigue: Biden, who has ducked tough interviews and avoided no-holds-barred press conferences, is now considering both. Look for a town hall or big one-on-one interview this month.
The latest: During a family gathering at Camp David on Sunday, Biden family members, including Hunter, went through with a long-scheduled session with celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz. The Bidens insisted the president stay in the race, we’re told by people close to them.
- “They’re all-in, and want him to stay in,” a Biden source told us, adding that the campaign is “charging ahead.”
Behind the scenes: Some Biden friends and family blamed longtime aides who had prepped Biden. They complained about everything from data-heavy answers to his makeup to his briefing on camera angles.
- But the president smoothed it over: He called former chief of staff Ron Klain, who led the team, and one of the things they talked about was that neither he nor the family blames the prep.
- Campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz told us: “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.”
- Klain, who is expected to lead Biden’s prep for the second debate — on ABC on Sept. 10 — told us: “In 38 years of working with Joe Biden, we’ve had many successes and some failures. I’m always happy to share in the good results and assume my share of the responsibility for the times we’ve come up short.”
State of play: Biden’s inner circle argues that one bad night of a scratchy voice and a few mangled answers doesn’t warrant ending it all. So they’re unleashing the full power of the White House and top Democrats to resist the loud calls for him to give up the race.
- The biggest argument will be that Biden won the Democratic primaries overwhelmingly, and that result is final.
“You guys don’t get to decide,” a source close to Biden said, referring to high-profile Democrats now second-guessing Biden as nominee. “That’s not how this works. We don’t have smoke-filled rooms.”
- “They just have to cool down,” the source added. “We live in a democracy, at least for now.”
Based on our weekend conversations with top officials and advisers, here’s the Biden survival strategy:
