(Headline USA) Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki admitted this week that President Joe Biden’s debate performance was “bad,” and rebuffed attempts by the Biden family to blame the spectacle on his debate prep team.
“There are a lot of important discussions and debates about this political moment we are in and the path forward, but the notion that the issue at the debate was the prep process done by people like @RonaldKlain and Anita Dunn who have successfully prepped many candidates including Obama, Clinton and Biden is absurd,” Psaki wrote on X.
“It was a bad debate … Biden was bad,” she added. “Important convos about what happens next. But if you are directing your ire at ‘prep’ you are not talking about the right things.”
There are a lot of important discussions and debates about this political moment we are in and the path forward, but the notion that the issue at the debate was the prep process done by people like @RonaldKlain and Anita Dunn who have successfully prepped many candidates…
— Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) July 1, 2024
Psaki’s comments come days after a report revealed Biden’s family, including first lady Jill Biden and Hunter Biden, have been pressuring the president to ax some of his top staffers, including senior adviser Anita Dunn and Bob Bauer, the president’s attorney.
According to Politico, the Bidens complained that Dunn, Bauer, and the other staffers involved with the president’s debate prep did not adequately prepare him to go on the attack more or lay out his vision for the next four years, and that they allowed him to become overworked without enough rest beforehand. (Biden was away at Camp David for an entire week prepping for the debate).
However, Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz dismissed the report and said Biden has no intention of resetting his campaign staff.
“The aides who prepped the president have been with him for years, often decades, seeing him through victories and challenges,” Munoz said. “He maintains strong confidence in them.”
During the Biden family’s recent meeting, they also reportedly encouraged the president to ignore calls from within the Democratic Party for him to step aside and urged him to stay in the race.
