Seven days after the June 27 presidential debate between Biden and Republican front-runner Donald Trump, the Biden campaign is facing a barrage of concern and frustration, with Democratic lawmakers calling for a withdrawal, donors angry that Biden has not made an effort to reassure voters and advisers trying to solidify his support.
Recognizing that they had limited time to stabilize the situation and prevent further defections within an already uneasy Democratic Party, Biden and his team quickly held afternoon rallies in key battleground states and agreed to an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos to air in primetime on Friday.
Overall, Friday will be one of the most important days in Biden’s long political career, for a man who has faced both tragedy and triumph while declaring his will to respect fate. Now is the time for President Trump to show he is resilient enough to withstand not only several grueling months of a presidential election campaign, but also another four years in office.
Trump is returning to one of the most crucial battleground states, which he narrowly won in 2020. He is expected to be accompanied at the rally by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, the Democrat who twice won the narrow and often bitterly divided state.
This will be Biden’s fifth visit to the state this year, and he is scheduled to join Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes Conway and former Fitchburg Mayor Frances Huntley Cooper, Wisconsin’s first elected Black mayor.
But in one sign of where the president currently stands, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who is running her own reelection campaign and leading the polls, will not be accompanying Biden on the trip, though she did not rearrange her previously planned tour of the state to accompany the president.
Ben Wikler, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, who attended the rally with Biden, said he didn’t believe Biden’s often-worded debate performance changed the dynamics of the race. Wikler said key voter groups were and remain skeptical of both candidates.
“People are worried that one candidate is scary and the other candidate is old,” he said. “Either we figure out how to change that debate, or we’re fighting for the last few thousand votes in a few states that will decide the Electoral College.”
Biden is scheduled to arrive in Wisconsin early Friday afternoon and stay for several hours, where the ABC News interview will be taped. The network had initially planned to air the full interview on Sunday but announced late Wednesday that it would dedicate an hour of prime time on Friday to air the session.
The Biden campaign said the Wisconsin event kicks off a month-long ramp-up that will include a $50 million ad campaign aimed at key moments such as the Olympics, which begin July 26, and a rival program during the Republican National Convention, which runs July 15-18.
The president is scheduled to give additional interviews in July and is “expected to engage in frequent impromptu remarks over the course of a month,” campaign officials said, pointing to video of the president stopping by a Waffle House after last week’s debate.
Biden is scheduled to speak to the National Education Association in Philadelphia on Sunday. Next week he will host a NATO summit in Washington, bringing more than 30 leaders to the nation’s capital, where Biden will hold a solo news conference. The president also plans to campaign in the Southwest, traveling to Las Vegas in mid-July for meetings of the NAACP and Unidos US.
Biden’s family has encouraged him over the past week and supported him staying in the race, four people familiar with the family said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. His son Hunter has played an especially close role, working alongside his father to help prepare speeches and attending the Medal of Honor ceremony the president hosted at the White House.
Hunter Biden’s conviction last month on three felony gun possession counts has raised eyebrows among some inside the White House, but people close to the president’s son say he is beginning to reclaim the role he long played in his father’s political career.
Hunter Biden is optimistic his father can bounce back from his debate gaffes and has vehemently rejected doubters, according to people close to him.
Biden’s family acknowledges his shaky performances and shaky moments in debates but is confident he will remain the Democratic nominee barring senior defections or a major drop in the polls. They also note that critics have doubted him throughout his political career but he has defied expectations and are highly hopeful he will do so again this time, the people said.
Patrick Marley contributed to this report.
