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Biden Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said on a Zoom call with around 500 donors on Monday that President Joe Biden is “probably in better health than most of us” as the campaign tried to quash concerns about the 81-year-old’s age and fitness following his terrible debate performance.
O’Malley Dillon told members of the Biden campaign’s National Finance Committee that the team is “clear-eyed, not pollyannish” regarding the less than stellar debate performance, according to CNN.
The campaign chair went on to defend Biden’s health and gave no sign that he was reconsidering his run for re-election in November. The Zoom meeting on Monday was organized to answer questions from top Democrats after Biden’s poor debate performance opened the floodgates to speculation that Biden could be replaced at the top of the ticket.
O’Malley Dillon cited Biden’s health report from earlier this year.
“He’s probably in better health than most of us,” she told the donors. One of the call participants told CNN that the comments were dismissive and offensive toward the legitimate worries many have following the debate.
A National Finance Committee member said it was disappointing that O’Malley Dillon attempted to downplay the concerns about Biden’s age and health instead of hearing them out.
While questions were asked during the call, they were read out by members of staff and not asked by the donors themselves.
During the call, O’Malley Dillon was asked how Biden would improve his performance for the next debate and what the campaign’s plan of action is if Biden sinks in the polls, a call participant told CNN. The donor told the network that the campaign acknowledged that the first debate was bad but that Biden will be more prepared to respond to Trump when the second debate takes place in September.
Responding to poll concerns, the campaign said their internal polling has been good and that there hasn’t been much change since the debate.
A number of top Democrats and those close to the White House have been outraged at the tone some campaign officials have adopted following the debate, calling those who have argued that Biden should leave the race “the bedwetting brigade.”
The Biden campaign noted the panic among Democrats that the debate caused in an email sent to supporters from deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty.
“If you’re like me, you’re getting lots of texts or calls from folks about the state of the race after Thursday. Maybe it was your panicked aunt, your MAGA uncle, or some self-important Podcasters,” the email began, before going on to state: “The bedwetting brigade is calling for Joe Biden to ‘drop out.’ That is the best possible way for Donald Trump to win and us to lose.”
Democratic finance chair Chris Korge told the donors during the Monday call that “Everyone just needs to breathe through the nose for a minute, and to unify behind Biden and work together to get him re-elected.”
Another deputy campaign manager, Quentin Folks, told donors that any dip in the polls for Biden was because of the negative media coverage and not because of Biden’s debate performance, adding that editorials and columnists arguing that Biden should leave the race have been “blowing this out of proportion,” according to CNN.
