Since President Joe Biden’s catastrophic debate performance two weeks ago, the Democratic Party has been arguing over his future, and whether he should step down as the Party’s nominee. Biden had already been losing to Donald Trump even before then, and since that time his polls have gotten worse. Moreover, Biden’s unwillingness to do White House press conferences, combined with the way he’s limited unscripted appearances, has made many Democrats concerned that he is incapable of both beating Trump and governing the country effectively for four and a half more years.
While most congressional Democrats have either remained silent or spoken only in generalities about what should happen now, the President has some vocal supporters on the Hill. One of them is Representative Robert Garcia, the first-term California Democrat, who has been outspoken in his backing of the President. Garcia and I recently spoke by phone. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed whether Garcia has any concerns about Biden’s age, the White House’s media strategy for the Presidential campaign, and whether Biden supporters are prioritizing loyalty over the chance to defeat Trump.
Right after the debate, a lot of Democrats felt concerned, and a lot of them said that he needs to go out and show he can take the fight to Trump. How do you feel that’s going, two weeks later?
I think everyone agrees that it was a bad night, and I certainly think we have seen fighting Joe Biden since then. I think his remarks and his activity in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Wisconsin have been really strong, and it’s been a fiery Joe Biden. If Donald Trump’s going to punch at Joe Biden, I want Joe Biden to punch Donald Trump in the nose twice as hard, and I think we’re seeing that, and I think we’ll continue to see that.
Right, he waited eight days to do an interview, and then did one with George Stephanopoulos, which people thought didn’t go that great. He hasn’t held a press conference. It doesn’t seem like the White House is still interested in mounting a full Presidential campaign. Is there concern about that, at least?
I think there’s absolutely a focus on a full Presidential campaign. I mean, I think you’ve seen multiple events by the President. There’s obviously the NATO press conference. The Vice-President has been all over the country, including Nevada. So I think they’re very engaged in the campaign, and going out to all the constituencies and just reinforcing that Joe Biden is here to fight, and to fight hard, all the way through November.
Do you have a sense of why he hasn’t held a news conference in so long?
I mean, I obviously don’t know when he holds news conferences. I think he’s holding a news conference at the NATO summit. And he’s done a couple of interviews since, and, obviously, he does interviews all the time.
I was just struck that the day after the debate he didn’t have a news conference or do a round of interviews. It fits into concerns that I think people have had. There’s been reporting that Biden aides say he’s best between 10 A.M. and 4 P.M. He himself told a bunch of governors that he needs to make sure there’s nothing scheduled so he can get his sleep after 8 P.M. Does that concern you at all?
Well, in fact, I think my governor, Gavin Newsom, himself said publicly that he thought the President was actually making a joke when he said that. But, honestly, I don’t know that it matters. I personally don’t like doing a lot after 8 P.M.
He’s the President though, right?
That’s right. I’m also obviously a lot younger. I’m not concerned about when the President wants to do events or not. I think the proof is in the record. I think that the President has so much to show, whether that’s health care or fighting for abortion rights and infrastructure. He’s only been President now for three and a half years, and he’s accomplished an enormous amount.
We saw the debate, and the reports I mentioned about his work abilities, and then pieces that have come out discussing European allies’ concerns about his energy at summits. But you have no concern—not today, not tomorrow, not even January 19th, but three years from now—about Joe Biden being President when he’s eighty-four?
No, I see that Joe Biden has had an incredible record the past three and a half years and—
What about the next three and a half years?
And I expect the same will happen for the next four years. The President of the United States has some of the best doctors and medical folks in the world surrounding him. I trust the White House, I trust the physicians and their assessments of the President. Look, the President himself has said and made jokes that yes, he’s older, and, yes, he’s a little slower. I think we’re all aware of that. Also, with that age comes incredible wisdom, comes incredible experience—
Wisdom, you said?
Yeah, I said wisdom and experience. And I think we would not have the progress that we’ve made in the past four years had it not been for his incredible wisdom.
The American people overwhelmingly say in polling data that Joe Biden is too old to do the job. And, in fact, the polls I’ve seen lately suggest that around half of Democrats want him to step down as nominee, in large part because of his age. Where do you think the people who think this are going wrong?
Well, first, I respect everyone’s perspective and opinions, and I think that we have a diverse country and certainly a diverse party in which people are going to have different perspectives. My perspective is that Joe Biden is an experienced, accomplished person with a real record of results and he’s made a great President and will continue to be a great President.
Donald Trump is also, of course, not that much younger than Joe Biden is. We have two nominees who are a lot older, including one in Donald Trump, who also can’t put together a sentence, can’t speak at rallies, is literally a lunatic who wants to destroy the country. And I think it’s important for us to focus on the fact that Donald Trump is an actual danger to the world and to our democracy.
I didn’t bring up Trump because I think you and I agree that he should remain very, very far from the White House, but, when you said that he “also” can’t put together a sentence, you implied that Joe Biden can’t put together a sentence, either. I do wonder whether the American people are also concerned, as you put it, that Biden can’t put together a sentence. That just seems worrisome to me.
I didn’t say that Joe Biden can’t put together a sentence.
You said Donald Trump “also” can’t put together a sentence.
No. What I’m saying is that Donald Trump can’t put together a sentence. Look, Joe Biden had a really tough day. He’s older. We all know that. I also think we’ve seen Joe Biden deliver for the American people, over and over again, especially in the past few days. Trump is insane and crazy. This was always going to be a tough election. I remind folks this was a tough election before the debate.
Yeah, Biden was losing before the debate.
Before the debate.
Correct.
And continues to be, and we’ve got to fight like hell.
One thing I’ve heard a bunch of Biden supporters say is, essentially, He’s had our back and now we’re going to have his. What do you think that phrase means?
I’ve heard folks say that as well. I think part of what it means is that Joe Biden is someone with a long history of working with communities. Take a look at the support that he has within the Black community and the Congressional Black Caucus. It is intense, it’s strong, it’s real.
He’s polling worse with African Americans than any Democratic Presidential candidate in modern history.
Well, again, we were already looking at those numbers prior to the debate, and so I think that we have a lot of work to do in all communities of color. I think that’s really important, but what I think is critical is that Joe Biden has built a relationship and a real record with a lot of communities, whether it’s labor unions, whether it’s the African American community, whether it’s working-class folks.
Your colleague Adam Smith said, “The idea that we are going to slow-walk into fascism because we don’t want to hurt somebody that we respect’s feelings—I cannot even begin to tell you how angry that makes me.” You said earlier that Joe Biden is important to various communities and that they feel loyalty to him. But the Smith comment is saying that loyalty is not what this should be about; what this should be about is beating Donald Trump. The idea that the calculation here should be anything other than how to beat Donald Trump is to misunderstand what a party is for, and what the Democrats are supposed to unite around.
Well, there’s absolutely a piece of the loyalty factor that people feel toward Joe Biden. Of course, people have loyalty in those relationships, but I think it’s important to be crystal clear that people are supporting the President because they believe in him and they support the record. I mean, does the African American community feel loyalty to President Biden? Absolutely. But they also feel like he’s the best President at this moment, has delivered the first Black woman Supreme Court Justice, and the first African American woman on a ticket. Loyalty will play a part, but I absolutely don’t believe that loyalty is the overarching reason that people support the President.
What do you think of Adam Smith’s comment?
Well, I disagree with Adam. I like Adam, by the way. He’s a great colleague, and I have a good relationship with him. I respect him, and I respect that point of view. I just happen to have a different one.
I think most Americans really can’t imagine the person they saw at the debate being President four years from now. When I hear people like yourself, it almost seems like there’s something strange going on, where people are just not facing up to reality.
Well, first, I think the Democratic Party has had a wide-ranging debate and conversation. We are a big-tent party, and people are going to have different perspectives. I don’t think we should be afraid of that. I think that what you’re seeing right now, internally in Congress, is an overwhelming number of members of Congress and leadership, governors, mayors, and union leaders standing behind the Biden-Harris ticket. I’m hearing directly from folks who support the President and think that we’ve got to focus on beating Donald Trump. I think something you said earlier, that we can have a debate about Donald Trump and who’d be better—to me, there’s no debate. Donald Trump is a madman, a conspiracy theorist, and a criminal.
No, I said I didn’t think we needed to debate that, because we agree.
O.K. I’m saying Joe Biden has beaten him before, and he’s going to beat him again.
So you have no concerns that the Biden White House can execute this campaign forcefully and aggressively?
I think the Biden White House has, since the debate and before the debate, and will continue to execute this campaign forcefully. I have encouraged them and will continue to fight as hard as possible to see the Joe Biden that we’ve seen in the last few days. That’s the Joe Biden that we need to see every day to win. ♦