On Politics: The call is coming from inside the White House
The call is coming from inside the White House
It's a really big day in Washington. President Biden is set to give a solo news conference at 6:30 p.m. — a high-stakes, unscripted appearance at a perilous moment. Democratic voters and some lawmakers have been in a panic since his poor debate performance two weeks ago. And we found out today that cracks are even forming inside Biden's own team, which has long been defined by its loyalty to the president. A few hours ago, my colleagues Michael Schmidt, Katie Rogers and Peter Baker reported that some longtime advisers to Biden, serving in both the White House and his campaign, have become convinced that he needs to step aside from his campaign and have been discussing how they can persuade him to do so. Biden's innermost circle remains adamant that he should stay in the race, they reported, but the article indicates that some of the people working overtime to keep Biden in the race are no longer fully united behind the idea of his continuing his candidacy — and that's a really big deal. The White House denied the account. What's more, the Biden campaign is surveying voters about Vice President Kamala Harris's strength against Trump, another set of my colleagues reported today. It could be a sign that Biden's campaign is trying to bolster his case for leading the ticket — or that his team is gathering information that could demonstrate to the president that his path forward is slim. All of this makes tonight's news conference all the more crucial for a president who is trying to calm Democrats' fears and reassert control over his party. So I called my colleague Michael Shear, a White House reporter, to discuss the president's gambit to talk to the public as the doubts about his candidacy spread among his own staff. Our conversation was edited for length and clarity. JB: Tonight's news conference is happening on a stage where Biden is very comfortable — at a NATO summit where he has been able to celebrate his foreign policy achievements. But it's also the kind of unscripted appearance we haven't seen a lot of from this president. Does that present fresh political risk? MS: Recent presidents have held more news conferences, and done more interviews, than Biden has. The reporting would suggest that the reason for limiting these unscripted sessions is that, over the years, the people around the president — and the president himself, I suppose — have concluded that he doesn't do very well in those sessions. There have been stumbles, there have been misstatements, and they're trying to protect him. (Biden's allies argue that he uses nontraditional methods to get his message out, like TikTok and other social media platforms.) JB: So, Biden is a president who, up until now, has somewhat deliberately stayed out of the spotlight — and who hasn't had a lot of big, unscripted moments like that. Has that strategy backfired? Did it contribute to the sense of shock his party experienced after the debate? MS: I think that's right. For those of us who have followed Biden around the country, to campaign speeches and official appearances, we all saw this. But those just aren't the kinds of events that get seen by millions of Americans. So, when people saw the debate, Biden's shaky performance was all the more surprising. JB: What's he likely to face when he steps onstage tonight? MS: These news conferences are tough under the best of circumstances. Even presidents who are far younger than Biden and have more practice with these events find them to be challenging. The White House press corps is pretty aggressive. Add in that Biden is going to be tired tonight, after a long day at NATO, and that he's already frustrated and angry about the questions he is likely to get. There is a lot of potential for trouble — not to mention the fact that he will be closely watched for signs of the communication struggles he had during the debate. The question is, can he avoid some sort of stumble? And if he does, then I think we'll keep moving forward in this uncertain way, without a clear understanding of how this will end. JB: How do Biden's troubles ratchet up the stakes of this news conference? Is he in a position where he needs to convince not just Democratic lawmakers and voters of his fitness to run, but his own advisers, too? I think so, and I think what none of us know — and I'm sure it must be frustrating to the president as well — is what could possibly convince them? What is it that he could do? What threshold could he reach that could change people's minds about him and his future? Our reporting in today's story was that some of his advisers are thinking about how they can convince him to get out of the race. If those are the kinds of conversations that these people are having, it's hard to see what Biden could say, or how he could act, or how his performance could be during the news conference that would actually throw them off that path.
How to watch Biden's news conferenceThe news conference is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. We'll be streaming it live at nytimes.com, where my colleagues from across the newsroom will guide you through it. And we'll be back later with news from the appearance. Read past editions of the newsletter here. If you're enjoying what you're reading, please consider recommending it to others. They can sign up here. Have feedback? Ideas for coverage? We'd love to hear from you. Email us at onpolitics@nytimes.com.
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