Politics & Policy
"Complete disaster": Biden grilled in "tense" call with moderate Dems
Andrew Solender
President Biden was raked over the coals by a group of center-left House Democrats on Saturday in what sources said was a "tense" – even "awful" – meeting aimed at stemming defections on Capitol Hill.
Why it matters: Biden got particularly animated towards a question from Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) about slipping public confidence in his leadership as commander-in-chief, according to several members in the meeting.
"That was a complete disaster. We saw the same Joe Biden from the debate," said one House Democrat on the call.
"It was awful," said another lawmaker.
A third told Axios: "Members were not holding back ... it got tense with Crow for sure."
What we're hearing: Biden huddled virtually with the center-left New Democrat Coalition as part of an outreach campaign to Capitol Hill to try to stem the flow of statements calling for him to drop out.
Reps. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) grilled Biden on how he plans to turn his campaign around, according to two lawmakers.
In response to Veasey asking how Biden plans to win back disaffected voters, Biden said in part that members need to do a better job advertising his administration's accomplishments.
As Houlahan outlined distressing polling numbers, Biden interrupted to try to add caveats, with Houlahan having to interject to finish her question, members said.
Zoom in: Crow's question prompted what two members described as "shouting" from Biden, who went off on a tangent and challenged the Coloradan to "name me a foreign leader who thinks I'm not the most effective leader."
"Tell me who the hell that is," Biden continued, without directly addressing Crow's question about voter confidence, saying it is "dead wrong" that foreign leaders lack confidence in him and exclaiming, "I don't want to hear that crap."
Said one member on the call: "He started shouting at Jason Crow for no reason."
A source familiar with Biden's answer stressed that the exchange ended on a positive note, with Biden saying: "If you're really getting input that I'm not strong enough, and I'd like to know more detail, because I want to deal with it."
Zoom in: After the three questions, Biden told members he had to depart for mass, one lawmaker told Axios.
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), one of the 19 House Democrats who have publicly called for Biden to withdraw, was next up to ask a question, according to two members.
Quigley was "visibly not happy that he was not going to be able to ask a question," one of the members said.
The intrigue: Biden's meeting with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which took place right before the New Democrats meeting, went far smoother, lawmakers told Axios.
Most of the questions on that call were effusive towards Biden except one which got "80%" of the way towards calling on Biden to drop out, one lawmaker said.
Biden laid out "ideas for how to take the agenda further," Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) said after the call, adding, "If I was his staff trying to give him some enthusiasm, I would have scheduled a call with the Progressive Caucus."
Biden announced a "major" Supreme Court reform policy in the works, according to two sources familiar with the call.
The bottom line: Lawmakers who spoke to Axios about the New Democrats call said they found Biden's answers unsatisfying and are no more assured about his path to victory than they were coming into the call.
"He had no answer to questions about his electability. He seemed oblivious to the polling that shows him losing swing states. He didn't want to hear it ... He didn't try to reassure anyone. He took no responsibility," one said.
That lawmaker said a statement calling for Biden to withdraw from the race is "under consideration" and the meeting "probably" makes it more likely they will release it.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional lawmaker comments.
https://www.axios.com/2024/07/13/biden- ... -democrats
So you run away from my $1000 wager, and then double down, and claim I'm defending Biden.
Tru dat.