Jill Biden's blitz to defend Joe as he ignores calls to drop out
Jill Biden heads to three key battleground states on Monday to campaign for her husband as more Democrats publicly call on Joe Biden to exit the presidential race. The first lady will attend campaign events in North Carolina, Florida and Georgia – all states Biden’s re-election campaign is still eying for a win in November, despite the flurry of calls for him to step down. During her trip, she will formally launch Veterans and Military Families for Biden. Her trip comes as Biden’s place on the Democratic ticket is at a tipping point.
He, buoyed by his wife and other family members, believes he can turn this around. But members of his party worry the situation is going to get worse. Jill Biden has been adamant that Joe Biden stays in the race. But she also hasn’t answered questions yet from the media about his condition or addressed questions about whether she worked with staff to hide it from the public. She has stood by him. She was at Biden’s side in Pennsylvania on Sunday as he tries to quiet concerns about his mental health and physical fitness. But, as they were campaigning, House Democrats held a crisis call where at least five more of them called on Joe Biden to exit the race.
Democrats are worried that, in addition to Republican Donald Trump winning the presidency, the GOP will also win both chambers of Congress, leaving no check on Trump’s presidential power. Through the crisis, however, Jill Biden has been her husband’s staunchest defender. ‘We are not going to let 90 minutes define the four years that you’ve been president,’ she told him after the debate. She also has taken charge of launching the Biden campaign's biggest voter initiatives, including Women for Biden and Seniors for Biden.
On Monday she adds veterans and military families to her list. Jill Biden is the daughter of a World War II veteran and the Bidens' late son Beau served in Iraq. As first lady, she has promoted her Joining Forces Initiative to support military families. She often talks about the Bidens' ties to the military. Both she and President Biden have criticized Donald Trump for his comments on veterans, particularly on a report that he called them 'suckers' and 'losers.' Trump has denied those comments. Her tour on Monday will take her to three states with high populations of veterans and military families.
Her first stop of the day is in Wilmington, N.C., a state critical to both candidates’ victory plans. Trump leads by six points in the polls there, according to Five Thirty Eight’s polling average of the state. Jill Biden then heads to Tampa, Florida. The president’s re-election campaign has argued the state is in play this year even though it has gone red from Trump in the past elections. Her final stop of the day is Georgia. The first lady’s arrival in the state is the biggest event there since the debate two weeks ago, where Joe Biden struggled to find words and fumbled in his responses to Trump.
Trump leads in Georgia by almost six points, according to Five Thirty Eight’s polling average of the state. Biden won the state in 2020 – the first Democrat to carry it since Bill Clinton. Both candidates want to win it in November. The Biden campaign is struggling to right itself in the almost two weeks following the debate. President Biden, in an attempt to show his mental prowess, conducted two interviews with black radio stations in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Only later it was revealed the campaign gave the questions to the hosts ahead of time. And the Philadelphia station fired its host in response to the news.
Next Biden sat down with ABC News to try and calm the storm. But Democrat's worries continue to grow and more voices are adding on to those calling on Biden to step down. Donors also are panicking. And one senior administration official told the New York Times that Biden is not capable of doing the job. The family, however, has circled the wagons. Jill Biden and Hunter Biden are now acting as the president’s gatekeepers. He has also doubled down, telling ABC News that nothing but an act from God could get him to exit the contest.
The president’s sister, Valerie Biden Owens, is also standing by him. Owens ran Joe Biden’s first Senate campaign and has been involved in every one of his campaigns since. She is his top political adviser. Jill, Hunter and Valerie are the three most important people in any decision Joe Biden makes about his future. He listens to them the most. They would need to give their blessing from him to exit the presidential race. They show no signs of doing so. The Biden clan gathered at Camp David last weekend for a pre-planned photo shoot with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.
But the main topic of conversation was Biden's disastrous debate performance against Trump. All the family urged Bien to stay in the race. Jill Biden, in particular, points to all the family has had to endure during Joe Biden’s time in the White House. She noted the prosecutor of Hunter Biden, NBC News reported, pointing out he could go to prison. The family – and even some Republicans – saw Hunter’s prosecution on a 2018 gun purchase as too much overreach. Jill Biden argued now was the time to fight.
There is another reason the Bidens are digging in their heels. The family, particularly Jill Biden, remembers how Joe Biden was forced out of the 1988 presidential race after a plagiarism scandal. 'In 1987, she saw him be forced out by the press, pundits and polls, and it was really a scarring experience for both of them,' Michael LaRosa, the first lady's former press secretary, told the New York Times. He said had discussed the 1988 episode multiple times with the First Lady when he worked for her. 'I think they learned from that experience and they weren't going to have their hands forced like they were in 1987.'
