President Biden, facing a political crisis as Democratic allies call for him to deliver more unscripted speeches to demonstrate his ability to win over voters, delivered a scripted speech Sunday, reading from notes about a roughly seven-minute address to a church congregation.
Speaking at a service at one of Philadelphia’s largest black churches without a teleprompter, which he uses for most of his public remarks, Mr. Biden sought to reassure voters who helped him win the 2020 presidential election that he can still beat former President Donald J. Trump.
“Joy comes in the morning,” Biden told a crowd of several hundred at the Mount Airy Church of Christ, a visit that has become something of a ritual for Democrats. “You’ve never given up. In my life and as your president, I’ve tried to live my faith.”
Biden is on edge on the campaign trail, with advisers trying to tread carefully with him and other Democratic allies hoping he will act more freely and show he can respond to events in real time.
“He doesn’t need to speak from a script,” said Steve Sisolak, a former Democratic governor of Nevada. “He needs to be up there and show people he can answer questions, he can answer the tough questions, he’s there for the voters.”
The president certainly spent much more time meeting voters at the church and at the two Sunday afternoon events than he has spent campaigning in recent weeks. Biden campaign spokesman Amar Moosa said Biden did exactly what needed to be done.
“What happened on the ground today is that Joe Biden campaigned with the heart of the Democratic Party and met with voters and elected officials in key battleground states,” Moussa said in a statement. “That’s the job of winning elections: a true focus on engaging and reaching voters wherever they are. You’ll see him do that in Michigan this week, Nevada next week, and across battleground states between now and November.”
Biden avoided missteps in his brief speech, despite facing intense scrutiny over every move and statement he made, but some Democrats are looking for much more than a gaffe-free morning.
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut appeared on CNN on Sunday and urged the president to “hold town hall meetings, hold press conferences and show the American people that he’s still the same old Joe Biden.”
Still, unscripted appearances carry risks, especially after Biden’s rambling 22-minute interview with ABC News failed to calm Democratic nerves. Biden also stumbled during two radio interviews, even though Biden campaign staffers provided the hosts with questions, a breach of journalistic ethics that led one of the hosts to leave the network.
And while Biden’s remarks at the church were brief, his thoughts seemed scrambled at times and his voice was sometimes hard to hear.
“I know it’s tempting to go on at length here longer than necessary, but I won’t,” Biden said before finishing.
Trump, his likely opponent in November’s presidential election, has no such hesitation in speaking out.
Trump speaks for 90 minutes or more at marathon rallies, sometimes with a teleprompter and often without one. He tells outrageous lies. He uses hateful language. He confuses names, dates and places.
But the bombastic former president — who at 78 is three years Biden’s junior and whose stocky build makes him seem far more imposing — does it all with remarkable stamina, even though polls suggest voters are less bothered by Trump’s age than by Biden’s.
After Biden attended church, House Democratic leaders met privately to discuss his candidacy, with several senior members urging him to step aside.
More publicly, Democrats have called on him to demonstrate he can campaign at a high level.
Senator Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Maine Democratic Party, said in a statement through a spokesman that Biden should take part in more “unscripted interviews and face-to-face interactions with constituents.”
The president is scheduled to hold a solo news conference after the NATO summit on Thursday, but for some Democrats it may feel like an eternity as Biden’s allies grow increasingly vocal in public and private about withdrawing from the presidential race.
Biden has stressed that he will not do so, saying in an interview on Friday that only “God Almighty” could remove him from office.
He also went off the teleprompter at two other events Sunday: He spoke for about seven minutes at one of his campaign offices in Philadelphia, where he assured the crowd that his alter-ego, Dirk Brandon, “will be back,” and he also spoke for six minutes to supporters at a labor union event outside Harrisburg.
Before Biden spoke at a Philadelphia church, one member of the congregation, Rachel Fuchs, offered a prayer from the stage and did not dismiss the doubts surrounding his candidacy.
“God, touch his mind and his body. God, uplift him and his soul. Bless him and guide him,” Fuchs said, echoing a similar plea for mental and physical strength for members of law enforcement.
During his time in office, the president has frequently turned to black faith communities to offer support during community tragedies and for assistance during his own political difficulties.
Black voters are a key part of Biden’s base, but polls have shown they are less enthusiastic about him as a candidate. Still, they rate the president’s job performance higher than other groups and are less likely to say he should drop out, according to a post-debate New York Times/Siena College poll.
As Biden appeared on stage and a choir sang, a woman from the audience yelled, “Let him know we are with him, hallelujah.”
In a powerful sermon, Bishop J. Lewis Felton noted that it’s well-known that Biden stuttered as a child and said he shouldn’t be blamed for the way he speaks.
After the service, Biden spent more than 30 minutes mingling with worshippers in the church sanctuary, shaking hands and posing for photos.
Stacia Parker, 57, a longtime member of the Mount Airy church, said she was grateful that Biden has forgiven $117,000 worth of student loans. She said she found Biden compelling and persuasive both on stage and in person.
“We’re not going to kick you when you’re down,” Parker said, showing a selfie the president took on his cellphone with his 7-year-old granddaughter.
The report Annie Krabby, Luke Broadwater, Michael Gold and Maggie Astor.
