President Joe Biden’s underwhelming debate performance had nothing to do with debate prep, ex-White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.
Leaving the White House earlier this year to anchor an MSNBC show, Psaki called it “absurd” for critics to blame then-chief of staff Ron Klain and one-time senior adviser Anita Dunn over events that took place during his seven-day dress rehearsal at Camp David.
“It was a bad debate. I have no doubt they were tough, strategic and direct (Believe me I have seen them in action),” she posted on X.
“Biden was bad,” she emphasized again. “Important convos about what happens next. But if you are directing your ire at ‘prep’ you are not talking about the right things.”
Critics argued that Biden aides’ efforts to explain away the president’s dismal performance with an explanation he just had a cold fell flat.
Still, a new TV ad released by the Biden campaign Monday notes that “Joe knows he made a mistake” and includes comments President Trump delivered on NBC’s “Today Show” Friday after last week’s debate in Houston: “I know I’m not a young man.”
According to Politico sources, Klain and Dunn might be removed over the president’s trampling before tens of millions of American viewers on CNN at last night’s debate – along with her husband and Biden lawyer Bob Bauer.
Members of the first family are reportedly furious over the criticism Biden has received since his face-off with former President Donald Trump. Every family member was desperate for their patriarch to swallow his wounded pride and stay in the race — with first son Hunter Biden arguably chief among them, needing him most of all.
John Morgan, a top Biden fundraiser, had this to say on the debate: “It is my belief that he was over-coached, over-practiced. And I believe Anita Dunn… put him in a venue that was conducive for Trump and not for him.”
Former President Barack Obama also commented on Biden’s debate performance saying, “Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know.”
Other left-of-center-media have weighed in on Biden’s under-performance, including The New York Times editorializing that he should turn aside and allow another Democratic candidate to emerge.
