Axios learned that President Joe Biden’s White House and campaign staff feel “rage, sadness, frustration” after his awful debate performance.
They also feel anger towards senior aides over their “lack of candor.” It’s delicious to me:
On Friday, the senior aides and White House officials only gave the staffers “talking points” without any “real explanation of why Biden appeared unable to string sentences together or articulate a case for himself over Trump.”
The attitudes have only led to more anger:
- “It’s the first topic of every conversation,” one White House official said.
- “Senior leadership has given us nothing. To act like it’s business as usual is delusional.”
- Another official put it more bluntly: “Everyone is freaking the f*** out.”
- “The uncertainty after Thursday is palpable and anxiety is only increasing,” a third White House official told Axios.
- “People are looking for leadership and direction that they were told to trust, and hoped was there, but aren’t yet feeling in what is now clearly a defining moment for this presidency.”
The senior officials gave Axios the usual talking points, telling the outlet that, “Davos Dems love to hedge their bets against us and get hysterical, like they did in 2019. And just like after 2020, they will come back with their DNC convention lanyards in their hands, begging for Christmas party invitations and then for a plus-one.”
I guess “Davos Dems” refers to those who support the World Economic Forum.
But the atmosphere is grim.
“It’s dark,” a campaign official said. “It feels like there is zero leadership or information. People are being told to keep their heads down and keep working, but they’re not seeing the president or being given any reason why they should have faith in him.”
Another person thinks the louder the calls for Biden to step down, “the more he feels like a scrappy underdog and the more he digs in.”
“The atmosphere now is that he’s going to be the nominee, so put your head down,” the person continued. “But there is also frustration that we aren’t being given the materials to move the news cycle forward. He needs to be out there.”
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