‘I understand the concern’: Biden seeks to calm nervous donors after debate flop

RED BANK, New Jersey — Instead of taking a post-debate victory lap, President Joe Biden spent Saturday personally reassuring high-powered donors that he was up to the task of running for reelection and beating Donald Trump after flopping on the stage Thursday night.

At a pair of fundraisers, the president acknowledged his poor debate performance and addressed the New York Times editorial board calling on him to drop out of the race. But he argued that “voters had a different reaction” to the debate, a point his campaign has asserted in the days since the president’s meltdown.

“I understand the concern after the debate,” Biden said at a Saturday evening reception at the home of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and first lady Tammy Murphy. “I get it. I didn’t have a great night, but I’m going to be fighting harder.”

In the days since Biden’s disastrous debate performance, his campaign has tried to ease nerves among skittish donors who are worried about the viability of the president’s candidacy and have even been willing to entertain the idea of replacing Biden at the top of the ticket.

“I don’t see how he continues. It’s stunning,” a prominent Democratic donor told POLITICO after the debate.

This weekend was a pivotal one for Biden’s campaign, even before his debate performance. The president’s once-yawning cash advantage over Trump evaporated this spring, and the campaign is working to calm big donors’ jitters ahead of the end of the second fundraising quarter on Sunday. The president and first lady attended a political fundraiser on Friday evening in New York City, and on Saturday they visited the Hamptons home of Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner and mega-donor Avram Glazer and his wife, Jill, for a private meeting on Eastern Long Island.

As they pulled into the East Hampton home of hedge fund manager Barry Rosenstein and his wife, Lizanne Rosenstein, for a Saturday afternoon fundraiser, a cluster of people stood along the motorcade route holding signs that read: “Please drop out for U.S.,” “Thank you next,” “Step down for democracy” and “We love you but it’s time.”

“We converted more undecided voters than Trump did, especially on Jan. 6, who’s fighting for the working class, the middle class. And by the way, The Times had their editorial, and guess what? They also point out he lied 28 times in a matter of 90 minutes. It’s pretty good. The big takeaway were his lies. People remembered how bad things were during his presidency, how much they disliked him,” Biden told a star-studded crowd seated under a tent on the Rosensteins’ perfectly manicured lawn.

“I promise you we’re gonna win this election,” Biden said at the end of his remarks.

The East Hampton fundraiser was co-hosted by the Rosensteins, actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan (who did not attend), Broadway producer Stacey Mindich and her husband, Eric Mindich, as well as Nicole and Michael Fox. Former Trump White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci and John Avlon, who recently won his Democratic primary for Congress in the district, were also spotted.

Lizanne Rosenstein took the microphone first, telling the crowd that it’s more “meaningful to compare presidencies” than debate nights.” First lady Jill Biden followed: “Joe isn’t just the right person for the job. He’s the only person for the job.”

As a few dozen donors sipped drinks on the Murphy’s patio overlooking the Navesink River, the governor introduced Biden to the stage as “America’s comeback kid” and said he was “on fire” after his North Carolina rally on Friday. “We are all with you 1,000 percent,” he said to Biden.

Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon, campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez and deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks met privately Friday morning with top donors and bundlers at The Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta to convince them the debate was not a “campaign killer.” The trio made clear that Biden would stay in the race.

Trump has outraised Biden in back-to-back months, erasing the massive cash advantage that Democrats had at the start of the year and worrying some in the party. But the Biden campaign has publicly downplayed any concerns that the money could dry up.

In the meeting with donors the morning after the debate, O’Malley Dillon touted their grassroots fundraising numbers. The campaign on Saturday also announced it had raised more than $27 million on Thursday and Friday.

O’Malley Dillon sent a new campaign memo Saturday afternoon, reinforcing the president’s message. She argued that once again pundits and the media are doubting Biden, while pointing to very early polling data that shows the debate had little effect on how voters viewed the race.

“If we do see changes in polling in the coming weeks, it will not be the first time that overblown media narratives have driven temporary dips in the polls,” the memo said, followed by several media clips highlighting Barack Obama’s 2012 rocky debate performance.