Seventy-two hours have passed since the heated debate in Atlanta last week, and the repercussions are still being felt within President Biden’s inner circle. The response strategy adopted by the President and his team can be likened to how police officers handle bystanders at a car crash: “Nothing to see here.”
According to repeated talking points from the President’s aides and surrogates, the debate was merely a 90-minute blip in the grand scheme of the campaign. While Mr. Biden admitted he didn’t have a stellar night, he remains optimistic as fundraising efforts continue to thrive, positioning him for a rebound.
For over a year, concerns about the President’s age have lingered in the minds of voters, reflected in various polls. However, the President’s team has consistently downplayed these worries, attributing them to media sensationalism and the lingering influence of the Trump-backed MAGA movement.
Jen O’Malley Dillon, the President’s top campaign strategist, emphasized that any potential decline in polls would be a result of exaggerated media narratives. Senator John Fetterman from Pennsylvania echoed a similar sentiment on “Fox News Sunday,” dismissing debate-induced anxiety by labeling it as merely a singular event.
Despite efforts to downplay the significance of the debate, voters who witnessed the clash between Biden and Trump firsthand do not require reassurance about what unfolded. Ben Rhodes, a former top foreign policy adviser to President Obama, stressed the futility of denying the reality of the debate aftermath, stating that “telling people they didn’t see what they saw is not the way to respond to this.”
