“He’s a very strong man,” said Michael LaRosa, a former press secretary for First Lady Jill Biden. Breitbart News Saturday Any conversation with President Joe Biden about stepping aside for another Democratic candidate would likely have to come from congressional leadership.
LaRosa, who served as press secretary to Jill Biden in the Biden administration, appeared on the show with Breitbart News Washington bureau chief Matthew Boyle just days after Trump’s debate performance sparked mass panic within the Democratic Party about his reelection chances.
During the interview, Boyle asked LaRosa about Jill Biden’s role as the Democratic Party and the country move forward in uncharted territory in the debate’s aftermath.
LaRosa, who supports Biden and notes that Biden has never endorsed a neutral cause or a Democratic primary challenger to the president, stressed that the Bidens support each other as they pursue their ambitions, just as in the past presidents have supported the first lady’s academics and the first lady has supported Biden’s political goals. In other words, “when the family makes a decision, they’re all in it together,” LaRosa said.
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“She would never be comfortable making a decision as big as, ‘Joe, you know, step back,'” LaRosa told Boyle, insisting that would “never” happen.
“That being said, I think it’s important for the audience to know that stuff like that is likely going to come from congressional leadership, in both parties,” he said, indirectly referring to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
“And they have to say, ‘No one is going to support you at the conference,’ or ‘You’re ruining the rest of the party,'” he added.
A key barometer to watch on this front is the Pennsylvania Senate race between Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and Republican businessman Dave McCormick, who could provoke a backlash from Schumer if Casey’s approval ratings start to slip as Biden becomes the front-runner.
🚨 Focus on the Pennsylvania Senate Election 🚨
If (and this is a big if) Bob Casey’s approval rating in my home state of Pennsylvania were to slip or fall, it would send shock waves through Schumer and he would respond with lightning speed! ⚡️ If there was even the slightest hint that Casey might be in danger, we would… https://t.co/xHLJx0xLRQ
— Michael LaRosa (@MichaelLaRosaDC) June 29, 2024
“If — and this is a big if — Bob Casey’s approval rating drops or declines in my home state of Pennsylvania, it will send shock waves through Schumer and he’ll respond with a blitz. [sic] “Speed!” LaRosa wrote in an X post shortly after his conversation with Boyle.
“If there’s even the slightest hint that Casey is in danger, we may see a reaction from him – a master of Senate strategy, candidate recruitment, incumbency defense and fundraising – that could force him to rethink how he approaches the ‘panic’ within his party,” he added.
A former spokesman for the first lady noted that the third-term senator regularly “outperforms the top candidates” and a drop in votes there would be a sign that Biden is endangering lower-ranking Democratic candidates.
But Casey was already one of the most vulnerable Democrats up for reelection in 2024 even before Biden’s shaky debate performance, and McCormick quickly moved to link his opponent to the president.
Bob Casey has repeatedly said that his “best friend” Joe Biden, with whom he votes 98% of the time, is the right man for president.
What we all saw last night proves that Casey is lying. pic.twitter.com/8vUy4F5FIk
— Dave McCormick (@DaveMcCormickPA) June 28, 2024
“Bob Casey has said time and time again that his ‘best friend’ Joe Biden, who votes with him 98% of the time, is the right man for president,” McCormick tweeted on Friday. “What we all saw last night proves Casey is lying.”
LaRosa supports Biden but argues that the campaign should have put Biden in the public spotlight more in recent months rather than limiting his public appearances. That would have led to more public missteps, but in LaRosa’s view, it would have been much easier for Americans to dismiss Thursday as simply a “bad night” for Biden.
“And Matt, if that’s the case, and I actually said that quite a few times back in February around the time the Herr Report came out, the more he’s out there, yes, he’s going to make more mistakes, but I think over time people are going to be conditioned to see him that way,” LaRosa said.
“They’re going to see him interacting with reporters, playing aggressively, full of energy, and a night like last night would lead them to believe he just had a bad night,” he added, “but, you know, with his track record, they want to limit his involvement.”
He agreed with Boyle that the campaign is in the midst of a “1,000 percent credibility crisis.”
Breitbart News Saturday airs from 10am-1pm ET on SiriusXM Patriot 125.
