President Joe Biden's campaign said in a fundraising appeal to supporters Saturday night that his withdrawal would “only lead to weeks of chaos” and weaken his potential successor ahead of his planned showdown with former President Donald Trump in November.
“The bedwetters are calling for Joe Biden to 'step back' because that's the best way for Donald Trump to win and for us to lose,” Biden deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty said in an email to supporters.
“First of all, Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee. That's it. That's it. The voters have voted. He has won in a landslide victory,” Flaherty added. “And if he drops out, we'll be heading into weeks of chaos, intraparty fighting and violent convention floor brawls with many of the candidates limping along while Donald Trump has his time to speak to the American electorate unopposed.”
He continued: “All of this is going to help candidates who are going into the general election in the most vulnerable position, with zero money in their bank accounts. Do you want a path to defeat? This is it.”
Flaherty's email was a compilation of seven responses intended to reach “your panicked aunties, MAGA uncles or smug podcasters” following Biden's poor performance in the debate and calls for him to resign.
The New York Times editorial board, which endorsed Biden to face President Trump in the 2020 general election, said late Friday that Biden's participation in the debate was a “shadow of a great public servant” and that the president should withdraw from the debate.
“Mr. Biden has been a fine president… but the greatest public act Mr. Biden can now do is to announce that he will not run for reelection,” the committee wrote.
“The President's performance confirmed concerns that had been building for months, even years, and cannot be dismissed as simply a bad night or a cold,” the committee wrote.
They argued that Biden was “taking a reckless gamble” by continuing to run – a claim his campaign quickly rejected.
“The last time Joe Biden lost the endorsement of the New York Times editorial board, it ended up working out pretty well for him,” Biden campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond said in a statement shared with ABC News on Friday.
(In 2020, Time magazine's editorial board endorsed both Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota as Democratic presidential candidates, with Biden later winning the nomination.)
At a series of fundraising events on Friday and Saturday, Biden vowed to step up his efforts and sought to reassure donors he has the drive to keep the campaign going.
Biden delivered a powerful speech to supporters at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday. “Followers, I don't walk as easily as I used to. I don't talk as smoothly as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to. But I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong and I know how to do this job,” he told a cheering crowd. “As millions of Americans know, when I get knocked down, I know I can get up.”
“As Barack pointed out, it wasn't my best debate,” Biden said at a fundraiser in Red Bank, New Jersey, according to reporters at the event, adding later, “I understand the concerns after the debate. I get it. It wasn't a great night, but we're going to fight harder.”
And senior Democratic Party officials have publicly defended Biden. California Governor Gavin Newsom said Thursday night after the debate that Biden “never voted for the White House.” [his] Meanwhile, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy hosted a fundraiser in the state on Saturday, telling Biden “we are all with you, 1,000 percent” and calling him “America's Comeback Kid.”
But there have been private discussions among some party leaders about how to persuade sitting senators to have frank discussions with the president about stepping down.
As well as asserting that chaos was certain if Biden pulled out, the memo also urged supporters to tell their friends that despite the “rough” start to the debate, “voters now know what a threat Donald Trump is” and that “the long-term impact of the debate has been exaggerated.”
“And finally, but most importantly, keep the faith,” Flaherty said near the end of the email, adding that the campaign will “keep hustling and hustling.”
