Biden's media blitz met with Democratic disdain, wishes he would 'go away'
President Joe Biden's media blitz was met with criticism last week as the former president returned to the spotlight to speak out about the 2024 election, his decision to exit the race and the allegations about his mental fitness in several books about the election.
"It's time for Joe Biden to go away with all due respect and let the next generation of Democrats take the mantle," Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha told Politico. "Every time he appears on a show or says something, it's just another week or a month that we have to defend him and remind everybody that we got beat by Donald Trump, again."
Biden spoke to the BBC on Wednesday and with ABC's "The View" on Thursday, where he was also joined by his wife, former First Lady Jill Biden. The former president notably said it wouldn't have mattered if he exited the race sooner, and revealed he wasn't surprised former Vice President Kamala Harris lost.
"For those of us trying to rebuild the brand, it does no good when you're constantly reminded about the old brand that won't go away," Rocha added. He told the outlet that the only good thing about Biden's interview on "The View" was quickly overshadowed by the selection of a new pope.
A former Biden official told The Hill that Biden wasn't helping the Democratic brand after his interview tour.
"Elections are about the future. Every time Joe Biden emerges, we fight an old war," Democratic strategist and former Biden administration official Anthony Cole told the outlet. "Every interview he does provides a contrast to Trump that's just not helpful for the Democratic brand, which needs trusted messengers and fighters who can reach independents and moderates and inspire the base. Joe Biden ain't that."
He acknowledged that Biden taking responsibility for Trump's win was a good thing, but also said it might not matter at this point.
"Honestly, what good does that do now? Many Democrats — from elected leaders to the party faithful — are just ready to turn the page. I just don't think he understands how wide and deep this sentiment is," Cole said.
The co-hosts of "Pod Save America," who all worked for former President Barack Obama, also bashed Biden's media tour. Host Jon Favreau asked his co-hosts how they thought Biden did during "The View" interview and they laughed.
Host Dan Pfeiffer said Biden "survived" the interview and most of it was "hard to follow," as Jill Biden had to step in for Biden at one point.
"What's the audience for this? The American people are pretty decided on the question of was Joe Biden too old, and they were decided long before the debate. And I don't know that one interview or two interviews or a thousand interviews is going to, nothing's going to change that perspective," he said.
Favreau pushed back on the Democratic strategists who have praised Biden for speaking out.
"The answer is he shouldn't have run for a second term. And when he did run for a second term, he should have stepped down much earlier after the debate… I think that every Democratic politician, particularly those who want to lead the party and want to run in 2028 have to just rip the f------ band-aid off," Favreau said.
Pfeiffer went on to argue that Biden's media tour was all about him defending himself rather than speaking out against a sitting president.
"The one thing that I found very frustrating is Biden can't, like we know him, this is the pride in him, but I find it very aggravating, and frankly infuriating, when he says that he thinks he would have won," Pfeiffer added. "It's politically insane, right? It's detached from reality. But even if you truly believe that, to verbalize that in such a direct way repeatedly is, to me, so disrespectful to Kamala Harris, who he put in an impossible position."
Biden's claim that he would have won similarly annoyed MSNBC's Antonia Hylton, Ayman Mohyeldin, and Catherine Rampell on Saturday.
Hylton wondered, "Who is this for?"
"He's not speaking to what a lot of people have been asking for, which is some clear story of opposition, who we are, what are we delivering in opposition to Trump in this current moment? None of that really was present there. It kind of seemed all about me and my legacy to a lot of people, including voters, the fellow reporters, politicians I've spoken to in recent days," Hylton continued.
Mohyeldin specifically called out Biden for choosing to go on "The View," a highly friendly venue for the former president.
"No disrespect whatsoever to 'The View.' But if Joe Biden wants to have a conversation about his legacy and his policies, he should have done a hard hitting interview with somebody," he said. "That's where somebody can actually hold his feet to the fire and ask him questions about the decisions he made. And there's a reason why they wanted to go on 'The View.' And to your point, why now?"
After Biden's BBC interview, but before the interview on "The View", Alyssa Farah Griffin, a CNN political commentator and co-host on the ABC talk show, said Democrats didn't want to see Biden out there right now.
Former CNN host Chris Cilizza said after the BBC interview that Biden was still in denial about the election.
Politico first reported last week that the former president hired veteran strategist Chris Meagher, a former Biden deputy press secretary and Defense Department spokesperson, to help fend off attacks on his legacy.
A Democratic operative told the outlet that Biden was trying to convince himself and the country that he wasn't responsible for Trump's return to the White House.
"There are a lot of young and dynamic leaders in the Democratic Party who are focused on the path forward, and it's better we focus on them, instead of an old man trying to convince himself and America he isn't responsible for Donald Trump's reelection," the operative said, remaining anonymous.
Biden did acknowledge some responsibility for Trump's win during his appearance on "The View."
"I don't think he's reading the room at the moment," Third Way's Matt Bennett told Politico of Biden's media blitz. "I think the party, ultimately, will come around to the view that he did a good job as president, that he passed a lot of big things."
"But the horrible devastation we're witnessing [with the Trump administration] which is undoing a lot of the good that he did and the anger and despair that Democrats feel, makes this an inauspicious moment for him to re-enter the debate," he continued.
Biden's team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some fans of the president have defended his return to the spotlight, including Democratic strategist Ashley Etienne, who served as a senior advisor to Biden, as well as allies in the Democratic Party such as Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., and former Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison.
"I think this is an incredible inflection point as a nation, as a world and people like Joe Biden add value to the conversation — when [he's focused] on being constructive," Etienne told Politico.
"Seeing Joe Biden reminds me that our president can be a good, decent and honest leader. Reminds me that we have had presidents with slight majorities that have legislated to protect the environment, stabilized and grown the economy, created new jobs, reduced the cost of health care, invested in our infrastructure and respected our nation's history. I will always be grateful to President Biden for his commitment to saving America in one of our darkest times," Harrison told ABC News.
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