White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients held an all-staff meeting Wednesday, urging team members to tune out the “noise” and focus on the task of governing, as senior aides struggled to contain political fallout from President Biden’s disastrous debate performance.
Even Zients acknowledged that days after the Atlanta matchup between Biden and the former President Trump The chief of staff stressed to White House colleagues the Democratic administration’s accomplishments and track record, saying governing would become even more important as the campaign season heats up, especially after the July 4 holiday, The Associated Press reported, citing a White House official.
Biden himself has also begun making personal contacts, speaking privately with senior Democratic lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senator Chris Coons of Delaware and Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, a second White House official and others with knowledge of the conversations told the AP.
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Concern is growing on Capitol Hill as Biden has been slow to reach out to top Democrats and rank-and-file members, the AP reported, citing people familiar with the ongoing talks.
Top Democratic lawmakers also expressed their exasperation to Axios in recent days over Biden’s vacillating approach in reaching out to the party’s leadership, let alone the rank-and-file facing competitive elections this year. Members who were not named in the Axios reporting took particular issue with Biden’s distractions, saying his handling of the debate fallout, rather than the debate performance itself, could hurt Democrats’ chances of flipping the House or keeping their majority in the Senate in November.
Democrats are dissatisfied with the explanations for Biden’s debate performance from both White House staff and Biden himself. And there is deep frustration among some Democrats who feel Biden should have handled the matter much earlier and has put himself in a difficult position by staying in the race.
President Biden departs the White House for a campaign event in McLean, Virginia, on July 2, 2024. (Andrew Leyden/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Zients sought to instill staffers’ confidence in Biden’s reelection machinery, saying the president has a “strong campaign team” and that the White House’s job is to focus on implementing Biden’s agenda. He also told staffers that Biden has always weathered tough times, even when he’s been shut out during his decades in public office.
The chief of staff encouraged colleagues to “keep working as a team” and, while acknowledging the growing political debate, asked them to “step back from it” and maintain discipline, according to the official who spoke to the AP. The official was granted anonymity to describe Zients’ private comments. Zients also urged White House staff to ask questions and provide feedback.
While phone conversations between White House staffers are not unusual, the 15-minute conversation on Wednesday came as Biden and senior White House officials were working to placate upset lawmakers, donors and other allies within the party and amid questions about whether the 81-year-old president has the eligibility to run for a second term.
Biden campaign sends memo to all staffers in hopes of calming post-debate concerns
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients attends a congressional picnic hosted by President Biden on the South Lawn of the White House on June 4, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
According to Axios, major Democratic donors are now planning to donate large sums of money to House and Senate candidates ahead of Trump’s potential second term.
Biden’s reelection campaign has planned an extensive call for its own staff, according to a memo sent by campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez on Wednesday, saying it will be “emailing and calling all staff more frequently to ensure you all have the latest updates and broader campaign priorities for the day.” The memo emphasizes that the election between Biden and Trump will still be close, trying to minimize the debate’s lasting effects.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were also scheduled to hold one of their sporadic luncheons on Wednesday, and the president was planning to host another luncheon. Classification of Democratic governors In the evening at the White House.
President Biden listens during a tour of the DC Emergency Operations Center on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Democratic governors who were planning to attend in person included Tim Walz of Minnesota, who leads the Democratic Governors Association, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Maura Healey of Massachusetts, Daniel McKee of Rhode Island, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Gavin Newsom of California, according to their aides. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy were planning to attend virtually.
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The White House has also been defensive about reports that Biden is considering dropping out of the race.
Andrew Bates, the White House senior deputy press secretary and deputy assistant to the president, responded to a New York Times report on Wednesday that Biden told an aide he was considering continuing to pursue his re-election chances after his poor performance in the debate. “This claim is categorically false,” Bates wrote.
Biden also agreed to an interview on Friday George Stephanopoulos on ABC News.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
