President Biden has tried to use his public comments to change the narrative after his performance in the presidential debates was widely criticized, but one CNN analyst said this only confirms people’s concerns.
Biden reportedly blasted Democrats on the call on Saturday, claiming questions about his potential second term in office were “nonsense.” CNN’s Dana Bash reported that, citing sources familiar with the matter, the president lashed out at Colorado Democratic Rep. Jason Crow after Crow said, “Without significant changes, we face defeat in November.”
On CNN’s “Inside Politics with Dana Bash” on Wednesday, commentators discussed what the exchange suggests about the Biden campaign as a whole.
“This is getting really personal,” said Nia Malika Henderson, a politics and policy columnist for Bloomberg Opinion and senior political analyst at CNN. “You know, we’ve covered the president, he can be a little difficult, and that certainly came through in this conversation.”
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Nia Malika Henderson, a politics and policy columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, argued that Biden has failed to repair his public image in recent weeks.
“The problem with Biden is that he’s spent the last three weeks trying to undermine the debate by claiming it was a one-off, that he was actually strong and healthy and just had a bad day, a cold and was tired,” she said. “The problem is that his appearances since then have been hit and miss.”
She added that Biden’s “gaffes” continue to hurt him in the public eye.
“He’s had some relatively strong impressions. His press conference was OK, with a few gaffes, but he still makes gaffes,” Henderson said. “He still speaks in a low voice, he still seems a little weak when he walks out and greets constituents. I think he was greeting constituents in Las Vegas after that very powerful NAACP speech.”
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President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden take a walk. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnick)
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She argued that his overall public image among Democrats remains tarnished after the debate.
“Voters are seeing it, they’re communicating it to their constituents, they’re complaining about the president, some of them complaining about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,” Henderson said. “So it’s not going away, because a lot of what we’re seeing with Biden just confirms what people saw in the debates.”
The comments are a notable shift for Henderson, who frequently writes in support of Biden.
One of her writings As recently as June The headline was “Hunter Biden Found Guilty: His Father’s Reaction Was Surprising.”
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In her article, she glowingly praised Biden for responding to his son’s conviction, arguing that it was “a stark warning and an important contrast to Donald Trump.” She wrote that Biden’s speech “underscored his deep humanity, his decency, and his determination to stay focused on the problems of average Americans, rather than wallowing in bitterness, self-pity, revenge, or victimhood.”
Fox News’ Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report.
