Former White House press secretary turned MSNBC host Jen Psaki said that President Biden’s team was not doing enough to show his “empathy” as concerns about Biden’s cognitive ability threaten his campaign.
“The strategy is not going well,” Psaki said Thursday on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” adding that the president’s staff is not bringing out Biden’s “magic” in his campaign.
Biden fielded questions from reporters Thursday night during the 75th anniversary of NATO summit amid concerns about his cognitive health and ability to serve as president.
“It’s not a good sign when everybody’s taking it live and the questions are predominantly about the president’s health and well-being,” Psaki said. “That’s not a good sign on how things are going.”
She continued: “At the same time, it’s also your job when you’re advising a president, to bring out their magic.”
“I know that’s a weird way of saying it, but President Biden’s magic is not necessarily press conferences, I think it’s safe to say,” Psaki said. “It’s not even really necessarily interviews.”
“It’s his interactions with people,” Psaki said. “He’s incredibly empathetic. He cares about, he loves to hold babies. He legitimately loves them. He loves to travel with members of Congress.”
“So, that you’re not seeing,” she said. “And because you’re not seeing, and the public is not seeing him and the magic of Joe Biden, you’re relying on how is he going to answer the ninth question about his mental acuity at a press conference and in that sense the strategy is not going well.”
Psaki also said that Democrats in Congress and supporters of the president want to see leadership in the effort to defeat Trump in November.
“Nobody knows the path forward,” Psaki said. “And members of Congress and people who are rooting for him want to know, how do you win this race? How do you defeat Donald Trump? People just want a little something to go with, and they don’t have it.”
In another gaffe, Biden on Thursday introduced Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO conference in Washington, D.C. as “President Putin.”
“And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination,” Biden said, before starting to leave the podium. “Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.”
Biden seemed to realize his verbal stumble, following up his initial comments by mentioning Russian President Vladimir Putin and attempting to quickly correct himself.
“He’s going to beat President Putin. President Zelenskyy. I’m so focused on beating Putin,” he said. “We got to worry about it. Anyway, Mr. President.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
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