In a Zoom call with hundreds of upset party donors on Monday, Biden campaign chair Jennifer O’Malley Dillon dismissed concerns that President Joe Biden is too old to run for reelection.
“He’s probably in better health than most of us,” O’Malley Dillon told the roughly 500 virtual attendees, all members of the campaign’s National Finance Committee, according to CNN.
The meeting comes just four days after Biden’s dismal debate performance, which invited an onslaught of calls from mainstream media platforms and DNC insiders to replace Biden with a party favorite like California governor Gavin Newsom or Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer.
One participant in Monday’s meeting ripped O’Malley Dillon’s comment as “offensive” and “dismissive,” and another official found it “disappointing” that the campaign would continue to downplay their concerns, CNN reported. O’Malley Dillon went on to assure donors that the Biden team is “clear-eyed, not pollyannish” surrounding the president’s debate performance but did not indicate plans for a replacement.
The Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee held a similar meeting on Saturday afternoon, which assembled dozens of party officials to quell concerns following the debate.
The meeting was also met with intense backlash, with longtime DNC member Joe Salazar telling the Associated Press that the campaign barely touched on Biden’s debate performance.
“There were a number of things that could have been said in addressing the situation. But we didn’t get that,” Salazar said. “We were being gaslit.”
“They lied to us—systematically, over years,” another donor said. “Given the stakes, it’s unforgivable. Unconscionable.”
Despite the backlash, Biden officials doubled down. A Saturday night fundraising email knocked calls for Biden to drop out as “the bedwetting brigade,” leading to further outrage from top Democratic officials who called the email “disrespectful” and “disgusting.”
Whitmer warned O’Malley Dillon in a private phone call on Friday that her state is “no longer winnable” for Biden following the debate. The Michigan governor, however, also disavowed the “Draft Gretch” movement seeking to substitute her for Biden, and reaffirmed her commitment to the president’s reelection bid.
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