Just over a week after President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, members of the administration are anonymously revolting in the press, comparing the roiled workplace to the famous comedy “Weekend at Bernie’s” about a family that pretends to keep their dead uncle alive through a getaway weekend.
Axios scooped the staffers’ admissions, which offer candid assessments about their boss’s chances in November and where they think his top advisors went wrong. “Everyone is miserable, and senior advisers are a total black hole,” a White House official told the outlet. “Even if you’re trying to focus on work, nothing is going to break through or get any acknowledgment” from bosses. A high-ranking official at the Democratic National Committee added, “The only thing that can really allay concerns is for the president to demonstrate that he’s capable of running this campaign.”
“Everything else feels like ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ by his inner circle to prop him up,” the person added.
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Central to the criticism is a feeling that top advisors, including Deputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini, the first lady’s top adviser Anthony Bernal, and longtime aide Ashley Williams, formed a protective cocoon around the president at a time when he should have been accepting a wide array of opinions about how to right the ship. Some of those who spoke with Axios claimed to have seen or heard members of the trio stepping in during the president’s senior moments, reminding him about people he has known for years.
One former Biden aide told Axios: “Annie, Ashley and Anthony create a protective bubble around POTUS. He’s staffed so closely that he’s lost all independence. POTUS relies on staff to nudge him with reminders of who he’s meeting, including former staffers and advisers who Biden should easily remember without a reminder from Annie.”
White House spokesman Andrew Bates dismissed the fears as “anonymous sniping,” saying that it’s not unusual for presidents to rely on a small, trusted team of advisors. “These are standard processes for any White House, regardless of president or party. The claims about these individuals — whose professionalism and character are respected across the administration — are inaccurate.”
“This is a team with experience keeping the faith as we helped earn the strongest record in modern history, and our focus is not on anonymous sniping,” Bates added.
Even as the number of sitting members of Congress or influential Democrats calling for Biden to quit his campaign continues to grow, the president’s team has deployed surrogates who push the narrative that he has a strong record to run on and that a single debate performance shouldn’t serve as a referendum. “90 minutes doesn’t define a presidency. President Biden has given us 3½ years of extraordinary accomplishments and he made clear to every Democratic staffer who’s working to get him re-elected that he’s all in for four more,” DNC Executive Director Sam Cornale said in a statement to the outlet.
Campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz added that “there’s an immense sense of pride across our office.”
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