President Joe Biden’s make-or-break interview with ABC News appears to have done little to win over skeptics in his party, with Democratic insiders believing he has failed to undo the damage caused by his dismal debate performance.
In evaluating Biden’s sit-down conversation with George Stephanopoulos on Friday evening, one longtime Democratic donor bundler told The Daily Beast it was a “huge opportunity missed.”
“This was his Alamo, and he’s going down like Davey Crocket,” the unnamed individual said.
In the high-stakes interview, the 81-year-old president sought to diminish fears about his age and competency to run for a second term by insisting he is well enough to campaign and defeat Donald Trump in November.
He brushed off the debate as simply a “bad night” and put it down to him not feeling physically well.
However, it may take more than one interview to change Democrats’, and the public’s, perception of Biden.
After the interview aired, another Democratic donor bundler told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that it reminded them of “when my grandfather refused to accept he shouldn’t be allowed to drive anymore and that everyone but him knew it.”
The insider said that, while the interview was not as bad as the debate, a few “alarming” moments did not help Biden’s case.
Rep Lloyd Doggett, who became the first sitting Democratic party member to call for Biden to step down from the race, told CNN that the interview actually reinforced his stance.
“The need for him to step aside is more urgent tonight than when I first called for it on Tuesday,” he said, adding that Biden “does not want his legacy to be that he’s the one who turned over our country to a tyrant.”
Doggett is one of five Democratic lawmakers who have now publicly called for Biden to withdraw himself from the race, with Minnesota Rep Angie Craig joining joining calls on Saturday morning – hours after the interview aired.
“I have great respect for President Biden’s decades of service to our nation and his steadfast commitment to making our country a better place,” Craig wrote in a statement posted on Twitter/X.
“However, given what I saw and heard from the president during last week’s debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the president himself following the debate, I do not believe the president can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump,” she added.
Ohio Representative Greg Landsman told Axios before the pre-recorded interview that it would be unlikely to change people’s minds about encouraging Biden to step down.
“There were 40 million people that watched the debate, so it’ll take more than a rally and an interview to prove that he can make the case that Trump is unfit to be president,” Landsman told the outlet.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has now scheduled a virtual crisis meeting on Sunday with other top Democrats to discuss Biden’s path forward, according to reports.
So far, Biden has firmly maintained he will remain in the presidential race.
