ATLANTA — The head of the Democratic National Committee is trying to ease the concerns of party operatives and lawmakers rattled by President Joe Biden 's opening 2024 debate performance.
Chairman Jaime Harrison downplayed the rank-and-file reaction to Biden's debate Thursday night, conceding it "started off a little slow" but remaining adamant that it "ended strong." In the early minutes, Democrats openly panicked as a sluggish Biden repeatedly corrected himself and, at one point, struggled to finish his answer on healthcare.
Harrison similarly dismissed the idea of replacing the president on the party's ticket this cycle.
"One of the things that, notoriously, Democrats are known for: Some of us like to wring our hands," Harrison told the Washington Examiner on Friday during a Biden campaign press conference. "It's not time to wring hands, it's about rolling up your sleeves to do the work."
"This election was always going to be close, and it's going to be close," he said. "That means we got to put in the hard work and the efforts to make sure that we win this. This is not just about Democrats winning. It's about Americans' freedom."
Harrison echoed Vice President Kamala Harris , who is now under heightened scrutiny as Biden's understudy, reiterating that his presidency should not be "defined by a 90-minute debate." Harris made a similar comment post-debate on CNN.
When asked whether Biden continued to be the best candidate to beat former President Donald Trump in five months' time, Harrison provided a quick response as he walked out the door.
"He beat it before. He'll do it again," he said.
Harrison was accompanied by 2022 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams , who has been criticized by Republicans for questioning her election outcome against Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA).
"Large numbers of Democratic voters have said they want a different candidate. Do you think that the process leading to Joe Biden becoming the nominee has been sufficiently democratic?" one reporter asked.
"Absolutely," Abrams replied.
Biden and the Biden campaign have attempted to cast his debate in the best possible light by underscoring the contrast with Trump.
"Based on research we conducted during tonight's debate, it is clear that the more voters heard from Donald Trump, the more they remembered why they dislike him," Biden aides Becca Siegel and Meg Schwenzfeier wrote in a memo Thursday night. "In a survey of undecided voters in a Midwest state, debate-watchers agreed that President Biden won the debate and the more they saw of Donald Trump's erratic and vindictive behavior, the more they remembered why they voted against him in 2020."
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Biden spokespeople have simultaneously emphasized that the president raised $14 million on debate day and the morning after, demonstrating "a sign of strength of our grassroots support."
"11-12 p.m., the one hour after the debate, was the single best hour of fundraising since the campaign's launch in April 2023," Biden spokeswoman Lauren Hitt told reporters Friday.
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