As calls mount for President Joe Biden to step aside following a faltering debate performance, his son Hunter Biden is encouraging him to stay in the presidential race, media outlets have reported, citing sources familiar with the situation.
Biden spent Sunday at the Camp David presidential retreat with his wife Jill Biden and his children and grandchildren, where they urged him to stay in the race, per reports from The New York Times and the Associated Press.
Among those most adamant about Biden remaining in the race is his son Hunter, who Biden is known to lean on for advice, per the reports.
“Hunter Biden wants Americans to see the version of his father that he knows — scrappy and in command of the facts — rather than the stumbling, aging president Americans saw on Thursday night,” The New York Times reported, citing people informed about the discussions speaking to the publication under the condition of anonymity.
According to the AP, Hunter and Jill Biden have both been among the strongest voices in urging the president to stay in the race.
They still think that Biden is the best person to beat Trump and believe he can recover from “one subpar performance,” according to the AP, which also cited anonymous sources familiar with the discussions.
The family has reportedly been questioning whether the president’s staff could have prepared him better for the debate.
The New York Times said that the family was closely scrutinizing Biden’s staff, particularly White House advisor Anita Dunn and her husband, Bob Bauer, who is Biden’s personal attorney, as well as Biden’s former White House chief of staff Ron Klain.
Dunn is known to be a close adviser of Biden. Klain ran the debate preparations while Bauer role-played as Trump during rehearsals, the Times said.
The newspaper noted that Biden himself still trusted the trio of advisers and was not blaming them, while a person close to Jill Biden said she also was not critical of them.
“The aides who prepped the President have been with him for years, often decades, seeing him through victories and challenges. He maintains strong confidence in them,” Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said in a statement, per Politico.
Newsweek reached out to the Biden campaign via email outside of regular working hours.
Biden has long faced questions about his age and mental acuity. During Thursday’s debate, the 81-year-old president appeared shaky and at times stumbled over his answers and appeared to lose his train of thought.
His weak performance has led to panicked conversations among Democrats about whether to replace Biden on the ticket just months before the election, which would be unprecedented in modern times.
The only way for Biden to be replaced at this stage would be if he chose to step down. Despite mounting concerns and pressure from within his own party, Biden is reportedly determined to still stand.
At a campaign rally on Friday, Biden acknowledged his poor debate performance, but said he still believed “with all my heart and soul that I can do this job.”
“I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. And I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down you get back up,” Biden said.
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