Several of President Biden’s allies took to the Sunday morning shows to defend the president after what many considered a devastating debate performance.
The first presidential debate between Biden and former President Trump left many Democrats in the media shocked and dismayed at the president’s performance. Biden’s raspy voice and rambling answers raised concerns over the president’s age and mental state and whether he could serve another four years.
Some media outlets and Democratic figures have even called on Biden to step aside and let another Democrat take the party’s spot at the top of the ticket.
However, some Democrats sought to defend the president, attacking Trump, CNN and even wavering Democrats in the process.
During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., called out editorial boards like the New York Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for demanding Biden drop out of the race.
Fetterman referenced his own lackluster 2022 debate against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz following his stroke, suggesting that one performance was not the end of the world.
“There’s no value in, in any of those things. I mean, there was that same kind of a freak out after my debate. And in fact, I might even say that I had a more difficult evening than the president did,” Fetterman said. “And here I am right now, having this conversation. And I really like to remind to everybody watching that right now, Biden is one and Trump is still zero, and he’s the only person that’s ever beaten Trump. And I really believe that Joe Biden will do that again, despite all of the Democrats wetting the bed over that kind of thing.”
Former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci was asked about whether Biden should run again on ABC’s “The Week.” While he did not give his opinion, Fauci said that one must base their decision as an individual and “how they feel, what they feel they can do.”
“You know, I think it’s just an individual choice, and you really can’t generalize,” Fauci said.
Though Fauci declined to comment on the debate or things that “would have political implications,” he argued that he has had “very positive” experiences with Biden in the past.
“He asks probing questions. He’s right on point on things,” Fauci said. “So my personal experience has been quite positive with him.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went straight to attacking Donald Trump directly during her appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Though voters expressed concerns over Biden’s ability to serve another term, Pelosi argued that the focus should be on the former president.
“Well, what do they think about the other guy?” Pelosi asked. “Do they think that he has the integrity to be president after that performance? Let us not make a judgment about a presidency based on one debate.”
“The fact is, the reaction to the lies of Donald Trump is something that… people are focusing on, and to have a debate where you have to spend half your time negating what he said because he knows nothing about the truth,” she added. “On one side of the screen you have integrity and on one side you have dishonesty.”
Former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield insisted that despite polls showing most Americans feel Biden is no longer capable of serving a second term, the debate did not change the election.
“The reality is the race has not fundamentally changed,” Bedingfield said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
She added, “I think there’s universal agreement [it] wasn’t a great night for Joe Biden. He said as much. But what we see in all the data that has emerged since Thursday is the fundamental head-to-head hasn’t shifted. People are not suddenly moving to Trump.”
Bedingfield also insisted that voters were similarly dissatisfied with Trump’s debate performance, saying Biden can bounce back from Thursday.
“For Biden, now, the task is to go out, do what he did in North Carolina, show that energy, show that it was just one bad night. Every campaign recovers from one bad night…” she said.
Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., criticized the debate set-up by CNN while speaking with CNN’s “State of the Union” host Dana Bash, who co-moderated the debate.
“I don’t like the debate where nobody will do any fact-checking,” Clyburn said. “You just say what you want to say. You know it’s a lie. The guy told 30 some odd lies! And nobody checked him on it! And said that was up to Joe Biden to do it. I’m not too sure.”
He continued, “If I ask you a question, and you lie to me with the answer, I ought to follow up, and give you what the facts are. and see what your reaction to that would be. So that, to me, was not the way to plan the debate. And whoever, did that, agree to that, really should think about what they’re doing.”
At the time, Bash reminded him, “Well, it was a debate agreed to by President Biden first who proposed this debate.”
