CNN
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Joe Biden’s family on Sunday encouraged the president to stay in the 2024 race and privately discussed whether top aides on Biden’s heels should be fired. Surprisingly poor debate performanceIt was his throw Campaign in turmoil.
A gathering of Biden’s family, including first lady Jill Biden, son Hunter Biden and their grandchildren, was held at Camp David. A previously scheduled gathering And appealed to the President Keep fighting In his re-election bid, Biden advisers told CNN. One counselor described family members as offering their “unequivocal support.”
The family — clearly frustrated — discussed whether any of Biden’s top advisers should be fired and changes made to the campaign staff at a team preparing President Biden ahead of his dangerous debate with former President Donald Trump, an adviser said.
However, Biden is known for being loyal and protective of his closest advisers and is reluctant to fire aides. As of Sunday, there did not appear to be any major personnel changes.
The praise and support shown Sunday by Biden’s family for the president reflects the first lady’s public praise of her husband in recent days.
The family gathering at the presidential retreat came as Biden and his campaign faced an avalanche of calls to abandon the president after Thursday’s CNN presidential debate. Discussions also focused on how members of the Biden clan could help the president, but not whether he should reconsider his candidacy, one of the advisers said.
Biden is Collects data diligently — forecast evidence and public opinion polls — but pending a broader Democratic campaign poll and research this week, pollsters say support is expected to slip in battleground states. Advisers have preemptively blamed heavy media coverage for any fallout, rather than Biden’s own performance.
The shock of the CNN debate is still settling in for many, and the president and those close to him are in the early stages of processing the imminent fallout. The family’s view — that Biden should continue to fight — could change in the coming days if the downward spiral continues and if he is convinced that exiting the presidential race will avoid dragging down Democrats this fall.
Opinion of Biden’s family will be crucial in determining his political future — even more so than the president’s inner circle of popular top advisers.
Those advisers are now under intense scrutiny, with party insiders openly questioning how they allowed the president to take the stage last week to face off against Donald Trump knowing they should have known. Biden’s team has been holed up at Camp David for almost a week, trying to get the president into any situation he might face inside the CNN studios in Atlanta.
Biden and his family gathered Sunday for a long-planned photo shoot with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz. Senior advisers stressed to CNN on Saturday that the meeting was not intended to discuss whether the president would stay in the race.
Anger at some of Biden’s key staffers began to spill over into the public eye. Florida attorney John Morgan singled out senior adviser Anita Dunn, one of the Democratic Party’s best and most prominent donors, and her husband, Bob Bauer, Biden’s personal attorney.
“Biden has long been misled by the value of Anita Dunn and her husband. They must go today,” Morgan wrote in Sunday’s X.
The White House declined to comment on Morgan’s post.
This story and headline have been updated with additional information.
