Biden’s family tells him to keep fighting as they huddle at Camp David

US PRESIDENT Joe Biden’s family is urging him to stay in the race and keep fighting despite last week’s disastrous debate performance, even as some members of his clan privately expressed exasperation at how he was prepared for the event by his staff, people close to the situation said Sunday.

Biden huddled with his wife, children and grandchildren at Camp David while he tried to figure out how to tamp down Democratic anxiety. While his relatives were acutely aware of how poorly he did against former President Donald Trump, they argued that he could still show the country that he is capable of serving for another four years.

Biden has also been soliciting ideas from advisers about how to proceed, and his staff has been discussing whether he should hold a news conference or sit for interviews to defend himself and change the narrative, but nothing has been decided.

The campaign scheduled what could be a crucial call with its national finance committee for Monday to calm nerves and take temperatures.

One of the strongest voices imploring Biden to resist pressure to drop out was his son Hunter Biden, whom the president has long leaned on for advice, said one of the people informed about the discussions, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to share internal deliberations.

The anger among Democrats was made evident Sunday when John Morgan, a top Democratic donor who is close to Biden’s brother Frank, publicly blamed the advisers who managed the president’s debate preparations, citing by name Ron Klain, Anita Dunn and Bob Bauer.

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“It would be like if you took a prizefighter who was going to have a title fight and put him in a sauna for 15 hours then said, ‘Go fight,’” Morgan said in an interview. “I believe that the debate is solely on Ron Klain, Bob Bauer and Anita Dunn.”

Klain, Dunn and Bauer had no comment about the debate preparation, but Klain said that it was 100 per cent certain the president would stay in the race. “He is the choice of the Democratic voters,” Klain said. “We are seeing record levels of support from grassroots donors. We had a bad debate night. But you win campaigns by fighting — not quitting — in the face of adversity.”

The campaign scheduled a conference call for 5.30 pm on Monday for its national finance committee to hear from Jen O’Malley Dillon, the campaign chair. Many insiders have said that preserving the donor base will be key to the president staying in the race. NYTIMES