According to a memo obtained by CBS News reporter Ed O’Keefe, the Biden campaign requested on Thursday that Democratic lawmakers and insiders cease criticizing President Biden in the press. The memo stated that Biden will continue to be the Party’s nominee on the grounds that he is the only one who can defeat former President Donald J. Trump, citing current polling numbers.
In a note to staff that will be given to Democratic senators, Party members were urged to return their attention to Project 25, the idea of a conservative alliance that Trump has publicly renounced.
This follows calls for President Biden,81, to withdraw from the reelection campaign by a number of well-known Democratic donors and lawmakers, such as actor George Clooney and Disney heiress Abigail Disney, after his appalling debate performance raised doubts about his ability to lead the nation or defeat Trump in November.
The Biden campaign stated in the memo, “There is also no indication that anyone else would outperform the president vs. Trump. Hypothetical polling of alternative nominees will always be unreliable, and surveys do not take into account the negative media environment that any Democratic nominee will encounter. The only Democratic candidate for whom this is already baked in is President Biden.”
O’Keefe reported on the released memo, “The campaign all-but begs Democrats to stop the hand-wringing and op-ed writing” to the press. The memo said, “Next week, Donald Trump and Republicans will hold their convention in Milwaukee, once again putting their extreme Project 2025 agenda front and center for voters. It will be a key moment, and all of us – from President Biden on down – must do our part to take advantage of the opportunity. The surest way to help Donald Trump is to spend his convention talking about our nominating process instead of the MAGA extremism that will be on stage in Milwaukee.”
Although acknowledging post-debate problems, the Biden campaign insisted that Biden would stay the nominee. “Our internal data and public polling show the same thing: this remains a margin-of-error race in key battleground states,” the campaign stated.
Since Biden faced off against former President Trump in a debate last month, the Democratic Party has been frantically trying to figure out what will happen next in the election. Massive Democratic contributors have stopped giving the president’s campaign money, and there have been widespread calls for Biden to withdraw from the contest.
The concept of holding a “blitz primary” election prior to the DNC convention in August was promoted by well-known Democratic strategists a few days ago. Though the president has declared that he will remain in the campaign, many Democrats want Biden to step down.
