After a long weekend after a debate, its blowback, and donor events, President Joe Biden and his family are huddling informally at Camp David on Sunday to reportedly discuss the future of his campaign.
Democrats fear losing the power of the White House and Congress and might be hoping Biden takes the debate performance — if not the subsequent donor trepidation Friday — to heart and step down.
The White House is rejecting any talk about Biden not pressing forward with a reelection campaign.
"The decision-makers are two people — it's the president and his wife," a source told NBC News. "Anyone who doesn't understand how deeply personal and familial this decision will be isn't knowledgeable about the situation."
While first lady Jill Biden led on the mic at the Friday North Carolina rally, saying she loves her husband, Biden stood mouth agape as his wife was taking the lead after his debate.
But a revived Biden took to the mic and reassured his backers he is going to "get back up" after the debate that was widely panned by critics and even Democrats and long-adoring liberal media.
"I know when you get knocked down, you get back up," an angry Biden said to cap remarks that began with the first lady leading the way on stage, talking about her husband's candidacy as he stood in the background.
An insider told NBC News that Biden's confidence has been shaken.
"Biden was described by one person familiar with his mood as humiliated, devoid of confidence and painfully aware that the physical images of him at the debate — eyes staring into the distance, mouth agape — will live beyond his presidency, along with a performance that at times was meandering, incoherent and difficult to hear," NBC News reported, echoing that the cognitive issues conservative media and former President Donald Trump had attempted to drill into Biden-backer voters' minds is a danger to the nation.
"It's a mess," the source told NBC News.
But the president is going to listen to his wife on his future, perhaps her alone.
"The only person who has ultimate influence with him is the first lady," the source told NBC News. "If she decides there should be a change of course, there will be a change of course."
A source told NBC News after the report was released that the Camp David huddle was informal.
"Any discussion about the campaign is expected to be informal or an afterthought," the source told NBC. "No one is sitting down for a formal or determinative discussion."
The discussions, though, are not about dropping out, but as Biden said, getting "back up" in the horse race for November that remains many months and many lead changes away from being decided.
"We had a bad debate," Anita Dunn, a key adviser, told MSNBC on Saturday. "What do we do next? You know, the president, above all, is focused on what do we do next. What do I need to go do?"
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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