The Biden campaign has sustained several damaging leaks regarding post-debate concerns about the president’s political viability.
The leaks fueled fears that President Joe Biden will lose in November. They also appeared to expose the establishment media’s initial failure to report on Biden’s stamina, glitches, and likability since elected.
Since 2021, Biden has struggled to remain physically upright. Biden tripped, tumbled, and stumbled at least five times during his presidency. He also fell off his bike.
CRASH LANDING! Biden Falls at U.S. Air Force Academy Commencement
The media, however, kept reporting the White House line that Biden was healthy and vigorous. They reported the White House’s talking points about Biden’s mental health with the absence of a cognitive test.
Then came Biden’s first debate on June 27, and the American people saw Biden operate in real time for themselves. The media reported what voters saw. Unable to spin Biden’s debate performance, it appeared that Pandora’s box was opened.
Then the leaks came, apparently fueled by concerns that Biden will lose reelection.
Below are five damning leaks post-debate:
ONE: Biden Weighs Dropping Out of Race
Biden told an ally he is weighing dropping out of the presidential race, according to a New York Times report:
President Biden has told a key ally that he knows he may not be able to salvage his candidacy if he cannot convince the public in the coming days that he is up for the job after a disastrous debate performance last week.
The president, who the ally emphasized is still deeply in the fight for re-election, understands that his next few appearances heading into the holiday weekend — including an interview scheduled for Friday with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News and campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — must go well.
…
Mr. Biden is slowly reaching out to Democratic elected officials and has a meeting with Democratic governors at the White House scheduled for Wednesday evening. He is also continuing to reach out to people he has long trusted and has told at least one person that he is open to the possibility that his plans to move on from his debate performance — and flip the focus back to his challenger, Mr. Trump — may not work.
The White House denied the report.
TWO: Biden’s Nap Schedule
Biden took naps during each of the six days of debate prep, which never began before 11:00 a.m., a person familiar with the process told the Times.
Biden, who admitted Tuesday during a fundraiser that his back-to-back trips to Europe impacted his rest, was so drained by the trip that his debate prep was cut short by two days so he could spend time resting before rehearsals began with advisers at Camp David, the Times reported based on multiple sources:
The uncomfortable occurrences were not predictable, but seemed more likely when he was in a large crowd or tired after a particularly bruising schedule. In the 23 days leading up to the debate against former President Donald J. Trump, Mr. Biden jetted across the Atlantic Ocean twice for meetings with foreign leaders and then flew from Italy to California for a splashy fund-raiser, maintaining a grueling pace that exhausted even much younger aides.
The recent moments of disorientation generated concern among advisers and allies alike. He seemed confused at points during a D-Day anniversary ceremony in France on June 6. The next day, he misstated the purpose of a new tranche of military aid to Ukraine when meeting with its president.
On June 10, he appeared to freeze up at an early celebration of the Juneteenth holiday. On June 18, his soft-spoken tone and brief struggle to summon the name of his homeland security secretary at an immigration event unnerved some of his allies at the event, who traded alarmed looks and later described themselves as “shaken up,” as one put it. Mr. Biden recovered, and named Alejandro N. Mayorkas.
The White House denied the report.
THREE: Biden Staffers Turn to Harris