The Biden campaign has been hit with several damaging leaks about post-debate concerns about the president’s political viability.
The leak stoked fears that President Joe Biden would lose in November. It also appeared to reveal things that establishment media had not initially reported about Biden’s stamina, missteps and likability since his election.
Since 2021, Biden has struggled to physically stand upright. He has tripped, fallen or stumbled at least five times during his presidency, even falling off his bike.
Crash landing! Biden falls during US Air Force Academy graduation ceremony
However, the media continued to report the White House’s position that Biden was healthy and in good spirits, reporting the White House’s assertions about Biden’s mental state despite the lack of cognitive testing.
Then on June 27, Biden’s first debate took place, and the American people witnessed Biden in action in real time. The media reported what the voters saw. Unable to interpret Biden’s debate performance skillfully, it was as if Pandora’s box had been opened.
The leaks came afterward, apparently as fears grew that Biden would lose reelection.
Here are five major leaks from after the debate.
ONE: Biden considers dropping out of election
Biden has reportedly told allies he is considering dropping out of the presidential race. The New York Times report:
After his disastrous performance in last week’s debate, President Biden has told key allies that if he cannot convince the public in the coming days that he is worthy of being the presidential nominee, he may not be able to retain his candidacy.
As allies stressed, the president is still fighting a tough re-election fight and knows his next few hearings leading up to the holiday weekend must go well, including an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos scheduled for Friday and campaign stints in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
…
Biden has been slowly reaching out to Democratic officeholders — he is scheduled to meet with Democratic governors at the White House on Wednesday night — and continuing to reach out to longtime trusted figures, telling at least one person that his plan to move away from his debate performance and shift the focus back to his opponent, Trump, may not work.
The White House denied the report.
2. Biden’s nap schedule
Biden took naps every day of the six days of preparation for the debate, which did not start before 11 a.m., a person familiar with the debate process said. Times.
Biden acknowledged at a fundraiser on Tuesday that his back-to-back trips to Europe had affected his rest, but the trips had left him so exhausted that his debate preparations were cut short by two days to rest before rehearsals with advisers began at Camp David. Times Reported based on multiple sources:
Such unpleasant moments were unexpected, but they seemed likely when he was in a large crowd or tired after a particularly grueling schedule: In the 23 days leading up to his debate with former President Donald J. Trump, Mr. Biden kept up a grueling pace that would have worn down even his much younger aides, flying across the Atlantic twice to meet with foreign leaders and then from Italy to California for a glitzy fundraiser.
His recent confusion has also raised concerns among his advisers and allies. He appeared confused during a ceremony in France marking the anniversary of the Normandy landings on June 6. The next day, he misstated the purpose of new military aid to Ukraine during a meeting with the country’s president.
On June 10, Mr. Biden appeared shaken at an early Juneteenth celebration. On June 18, at an immigration event, some of his colleagues at the event were shaken and exchanged looks of surprise when the soft-spoken Mr. Biden struggled to remember the name of the Secretary of Homeland Security, later describing himself as “disturbed.” Mr. Biden recovered and named Alejandro N. Mayorkas.
The White House denied the report.
3. Biden team leans on Harris
