Former President Joe Biden adviser Anita Dunn on Friday criticized "certain leaders" for Democrats losing the House in 2022, telling Politico, "maybe we would control today, but we don't."
Dunn was asked about President Joe Biden's decision to drop out of the White House race and the details surrounding his choice in the days and weeks following the debate against former President Donald Trump.
She chalked up Biden's performance to a "terrible cold that got worse in the course of a week," and said results from a live-reaction dial group during the night of the debate showed Biden wasn't performing well in the first half hour, but "very much liked a lot of the second half of the debate for" the president.
"They hated Donald Trump. By the end of this, the first part of the strategy had absolutely worked in that people were like, 'Oh, I'd forgotten. I really don't like this guy. He's all about himself, he's bragging.' I mean, they really did not like him."
Trump, she added, "didn't gain any ground in the debate whatsoever. And we actually picked up a few votes in the group. So, it was a bad debate, but it didn't feel catastrophic at all, certainly in terms of voters."
Additionally, there wasn't much change in the polls.
"What did change it was 24 days of unremitting negative, horrible attacks on Joe Biden," from his own party, and from the press, including from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
When asked by Politico whether Biden's still "very angry" at Pelosi, former President Barack Obama, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Dunn responded: "But he is 1,000 percent all-in for Kamala Harris. And that is absolutely true. The task in front of us is to win this election and to not let Donald Trump become president again and to win the House of Representatives, which had certain leaders in 2022 done a slightly better job, maybe we would control today, but we don't."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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