Furious Jill Biden is 'lashing out' at Democrats who want to boot Biden, 81, from 2024 nomination after debate fiasco
First lady Jill Biden is said to be 'lashing out' at Democrats who want to remove President Joe Biden from the 2024 Democratic nomination following last week's debate.
While the president has said he has no plans to step aside, he is known be talking to vast numbers of people, but only listening to views of a very tight circle, including those of his wife.
And Jill is said to have taken a dim view of those wishing to kick her husband off the ticket, as it's claimed she's the driving force between his insistence on staying in the race. The claim was made by ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz moments after Biden's make or break interview with the network Friday night.
The 'inner circle' of voices that include a select circle of advisers – including son, Hunter, are telling Biden, 81, that he can win and that he needs to keep going with his re-election bid.
Last weekend, the Bidens escaped for a post-debate debrief and a reportedly pre-planned photoshoot with celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz at Camp David.
First lady Jill Biden is now said to be 'lashing out' at Democrats who want to remove President Joe Biden from the 2024 Democratic nomination following last week's debate
It was from the presidential log cabins that Jill made a phone call to Vogue magazine, providing a last-minute update to her cover interview, due out Monday.
'[We] will not let those 90 minutes define the four years [Joe's] been president. We will continue to fight,' Jill, 73, insisted to Vogue.
'The only person who has ultimate influence with him is the first lady,' a source said earlier in the week. 'If she decides there should be a change of course, there will be a change of course.
'The decision-makers are two people — it's the president and his wife,' the source added. 'Anyone who doesn't understand how deeply personal and familial this decision will be isn't knowledgeable about the situation.'
Biden's top aides have also told his staff to stay strong in meetings, airing the mission statement, 'We'll weather the storm, just like we always have,' according to one senior administration official.
The 'inner circle' of voices that include a select circle of advisers – including son, Hunter, are telling Biden, 81, that he can win and that he needs to keep going with his re-election bid
The president made his own attempt to get his re-election bid back on course in a taped interview that lasted only 22 minutes in which Biden insisted his dire poll numbers weren't real and that the Democratic party has no concerns about his fitness to lead.
Biden said the only way he would exit the race is 'if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me'.
Friday night's interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos was meant to act as damage control, but has only further enraged Democrat politicians and big donors who, since that calamitous Trump debate, have pushed for the President to step aside.
Biden blamed 'exhaustion' and being 'sick' for his poor debate performance, which has upended his entire reelection campaign.
But there is a movement afoot in the party to persuade him to step aside, with critics warning he faces near-certain defeat and could drag other Democrats down with him.
A handful of Democrats have publicly called on Biden to exit the race, while there's movement in the Senate - led by Virginia Sen. Mark Warner - to have Democrats in the upper chamber make the push as well
While the president has said he has no plans to step aside, he is known be talking to vast number of people, but only listening to views of a very tight circle, including those of his wife
House Democrats and a group of senators are expected to convene on the topic when they return to Washington next week.
A handful of Democrats have publicly called on Biden to exit the race, while there's movement in the Senate - led by Virginia Sen. Mark Warner - to have Democrats in the upper chamber make the push as well.
Warner, a well-respected moderate Democrat, is inviting Democratic senators to a meeting on Monday to discuss Biden's campaign, a source told Reuters.
The Washington Post reported Warner was seeking to ask the group to press Biden to exit the race.
Biden told reporters he had spoken to at least 20 lawmakers and that they were telling him to stay. Asked about Warner's call for him to go, Biden said: 'Well, Mark Warner, to my understanding, is the only one considering that.'
Biden has remained resistant to such efforts, saying in a fiery speech in Madison earlier on Friday: 'I'm staying in the race.'
Some public opinion polls have shown Trump widening a lead since the debate, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll found that one in three Democrats want Biden to quit the race.
Biden rejected the movement on Friday.
'We had a little debate last week. Can´t say it was my best performance. But ever since then there's been a lot of speculation. `What's Joe gonna do? Is he gonna stay in the race? Is he gonna drop out?' Biden said. 'Well here's my answer: I am running and gonna win again.'
But in the same stance, he added that he was ready to beat Trump 'again in 2020.'
And then when Stephanopoulos asked the 81-year-old 'did you ever watch the debate afterwards?' Biden indicated that he wasn't sure.
'I don't think I did, no,' the president replied.
The Clinton staffer-turned-ABC News anchor then pressed Biden if he knew he was bombing in real time.
In the brief clip, he also seemingly said that he had received more medical attention than what press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre initially told the press.
'Matter of fact the docs with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they're trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn't. I just had a really bad cold,' Biden said.
A bronzed Joe Biden made a bizarre claim about inventing a computer chip during his make-or-break interview Friday
Biden spoke to Stephanopoulos in a voice that resembled the weak rasp of his debate showing after questioning whether he'd even re-watched it, saying 'I don't know why' he had such a bad performance.
He insisted that he was not more frail and that he is 'still in good shape.' He said he has an 'ongoing assessment' by his personal doctors and they 'don't hesitate to tell me' if something is wrong.
During the interview, Biden said he undergoes 'ongoing assessment' by his personal doctors and they 'don't hesitate to tell me' if something is wrong.
'Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No. But I´m still in good shape,' Biden said.
