Hunter Biden is reportedly pushing the hardest for his father to stay in the 2024 presidential race as calls for him to drop out become amplified, people close to the situation told The New York Times (NYT).
Following a debate performance where President Joe Biden stumbled, gaffed and looked confused, Democrats have been calling for the 81-year-old to drop out of the presidential race out of concern for his fitness. As the Biden campaign maintains that the president is not dropping out, family gathered at Camp David over the weekend to reportedly discuss his future. The president’s family wants the president to stay in the race, with Hunter Biden making the pitch the hardest, people close to the situation told the NYT. (RELATED: White House Aides Reportedly Confirm Biden Exhibits Classic Dementia Symptom)
The president’s son reportedly wants his father to stay in because he believes the country needs to see Biden “scrappy and in command of the facts,” one person informed on the discussions told the NYT. Hunter Biden, recently convicted on three felony charges related to his purchase of a revolver while addicted to drugs, has long been a trusted adviser of his father who relies on him for advice, the NYT reported.
Outside of Hunter, “the entire family is united” on the decision to have Biden stay in the race, one source told the NYT.
“You get up and keep fighting,” the source reportedly added.
US President Joe Biden hugs his son Hunter Biden upon arrival at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware, on June 11, 2024, as he travels to Wilmington, Delaware. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Thirty minutes into the debate, Democrats began to descend into panic and the calls to replace Biden began. While the Biden campaign has been left to do damage control, the president’s inner circle has begun to point fingers at who is to blame for his disastrous performance, Axios reported.
Biden spent the week ahead of the debate in solitude at Camp David where a stage was set up and mock debates were held, The New York Times reported. Among themselves, the aides have been saying the president wasn’t prepared correctly for the debate, Axios reported.
“He was over-prepared and relying on minutiae when all that mattered was vigor and energy,” a source in Biden’s orbit told Axios. “They prepared him for the wrong debate. He was over-prepared when what he needed was rest. It’s confounding.”
“It’s sad but it also makes me so mad to think of all the smart people lying and trying to make this work,” a former White House official told Axios.
Biden’s former Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, who has historically prepared the president for debates, had no response to the backlash.
“He is the choice of the Democratic voters,” Klain told the NYT. “We are seeing record levels of support from grass-roots donors. We had a bad debate night. But you win campaigns by fighting — not quitting — in the face of adversity.”
