| | | Biden holds Zoom call ‘worse than the debate.’
Right before the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a group of moderate Hill Democrats held a “tense” Zoom call with the White House to express their concern about Biden’s ability to win—and their ability to win, should he tank and take them down with him. “The call was even worse than the debate,” one of the participants told me. “He was rambling; he’d start an answer then lose his train of thought, then would just say ‘whatever.’ He really couldn’t complete an answer. I lost a ton of respect for him.” A second participant in the call confirmed this characterization. “The president was rambling, dismissive of concerns, unable or unprepared to present a campaign strategy, and had a particularly troubling exchange with Jason Crow—saying to him, ‘Tell me something you’ve never done with your Bronze Star like my son,’” this member of Congress told me. “Had the assassination attempt not occurred an hour later, I imagine 50 people on that Zoom were ready to come out publicly against him.” (Biden ended the call on Saturday, just after 5 p.m., by saying his staff told him it was time for mass. The attempted assassination happened shortly after 6 p.m.) A third participant confirmed the descriptions of the president’s demeanor during the call to my partner Abby Livingston. |
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