Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said her former boss, President Biden, appeared to be “in denial” when he spoke about voters’ positions in a post-debate interview with ABC.
Psaki, the MSNBC host who has previously prepared Biden for such interviews, said Biden’s performance in the interview was “so-so” and did nothing to calm Democrats’ nerves after his disastrous debate defeat a week ago.
“He seemed a bit in denial about the situation in the race and maybe confidence was his strategy going into this race.” she said on “Inside with Jen Psaki” on Sunday. “But for those who are watching hoping for signs that he recognises the difficulty of the road ahead, this is not ideal.
“Overall, when the debate ended, we were all left in a kind of purgatory for now. [His interview] Better than a debate [although] It’s not a home run at all.”
In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Friday, Biden expressed confidence in his prospects of defeating Republican rival Donald Trump, and brushed off doubts that various polls show him losing both nationally and in battleground states.
“Every pollster I’ve talked to says it’s a 50-50 chance. It’s a 50-50 chance,” Biden said, despite growing pressure to drop out of the race to protect his party’s chances of winning the election.
He noted that many political analysts had predicted a Republican wave in the 2022 midterm elections, but that prediction was wrong this year. “Think back to 2024. There was a Republican wave in 2020,” he said.
Psaki highlighted a part of the interview in which she was asked how she would feel if Biden continued to campaign and lost to former President Trump.
“As long as I did my best and did the best job I could, I’ll be satisfied. That’s what this is about,” Biden responded.
A minority of Democrats are deeply unhappy with the response and believe defeating Trump is paramount for the country.
“I don’t think he actually means it that way, but that sounds to me like something his family has been telling him over the last week or so, which in itself is a little worrying,” Psaki said.
She is recent CBS News/YouGov Poll 72% of registered voters said they don’t think Biden has the “necessary mental and cognitive health to serve as president.”
“I would say it was passable for the president,” Psaki said of the interview, “and in many ways I think viewers saw what they wanted to see, because to some, the president looked better than he did in the debate.”
Biden’s debate performance has deeply upset Democrats across the country, with about a half-dozen House Democrats already publicly calling on Biden to step down.
The biggest worry is that voters will reject Biden because of his age and are unsure whether he has the cognitive ability needed to run the country.
Biden began campaigning after the debate and giving more interviews in an attempt to restore credibility.
The president has remained adamant that he will continue his campaign, and on Monday called on wavering Democrats to challenge him for the presidential nomination.
Psaki noted “panic” among Democrats over Biden and acknowledged, in response to a question about the best way forward, that “I’m not going to sit here this afternoon and say I know the answer.”
She is scheduled to testify at a congressional inquiry on July 26 about the disastrous consequences of the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal under the Biden administration.
