US media reports say Joe Biden's family has urged him to continue his campaign after his disastrous performance in last week's debate, while senior Democratic Party officials and donors have expressed outrage at the way Biden's staff prepared him for the debate.
The president gathered with his family at Camp David on Sunday, where discussions there reportedly included questions about his political future. This came after days of mounting pressure on Biden, whose shaky debate performances highlighted his weaknesses and prompted calls from pundits, media and voters for him to resign.
At the Camp David meeting, which was also attended by the first lady, his children and grandchildren, Biden's family told him he could show the public he was capable of serving another four years in office, according to The New York Times.
His family reportedly recognized how poorly he performed, but at the same time, they continue to think he's the perfect person to defeat Donald Trump.
The Associated Press reported that Biden's urging to resist pressure to withdraw comes from his wife, Jill, and son, Hunter, who became the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of a felony when a jury found him guilty last month of lying about illegal drug use when purchasing a handgun in 2018.
The trip to Camp David had been previously scheduled for a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz for the upcoming Democratic National Convention.
The president's family members were also reportedly critical of the way his aides prepared him for the debate.
Biden's hoarse-voiced, shaky and halting speech during the debate included frequent stuttering and sometimes unable to complete sentences. His opponent, Donald Trump, asserted a series of falsehoods that Biden was unable to refute, including a claim that he actually won the 2020 election.
On Sunday, criticism began to grow over Biden's grueling debate preparation schedule, which had forced him to isolate at Camp David for six days.
“I believe he was overcoached and over-rehearsed,” said John Morgan, a Florida lawyer and Biden's top fundraiser.
Critics of Biden's performance also say his preparations should have focused on the bigger vision he needed to sell to the public.
“We just asked him to rest before the debate, but he was exhausted. He was sick,” one of Biden's aides said in the days before the debate, telling Reuters. “What a poor decision to send him out sick and exhausted.”
A post-debate CBS poll showed the number of Democrats who think Biden should not run for president rose 10 points to 46%, up from 36% in February, and calls for Biden to step down are growing louder.
Biden's approval ratings have fallen since he took office and he has come under greater scrutiny than ever before over his age and concerns over his handling of crises at home and abroad since Thursday.
On Sunday, prominent Democrats appeared on talk shows to acknowledge that the president's performance had been substandard, but continued to voice their support for him.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries acknowledged Biden had suffered a setback but said it was “just a stepping stone to a comeback.”
Reflecting on Biden's debate performance, Georgia Democratic senator and Baptist pastor Raphael Warnock said there were “many Sundays when I wish I could have preached better.”
“But after the sermon was over, my job was to embody the message and show up for the people that I serve, and that's what Joe Biden has done his whole life,” Warnock said.
But not all Democrats seem to agree. Asked Sunday whether the party was discussing new candidates for 2024, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, told MSNBC: “We are a political party, we have differences of opinion, and so there are very honest and serious and rigorous discussions taking place at all levels of the party.”
“Whether he's the nominee or whether someone else is the nominee, he's going to be the keynote speaker at our convention. He's going to be someone we can rally around to move forward,” Raskin said.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
