Democratic congressman calls out ‘arrogant’ Biden campaign response to debate fallout

Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., slammed the Biden campaign for its response to criticism of President Biden’s debate performance last week.

Peters called Biden’s re-election team "arrogant" following last Thursday’s debate, which has led to calls from many within the party and liberal media for Biden to suspend his 2024 presidential campaign. 

"We needed a boost from Thursday. We didn’t get it. And the campaign has been very, I think, arrogant in their response," Peters said during a Wednesday interview with CBS 8 San Diego.

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In the face of mounting pressure to drop out, the president and his allies have insisted that Biden will stay the course and beat former President Trump in November. During the White House July 4th celebrations, Biden said, "I’m not going anywhere."

When asked whether the president would drop out of the race, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre recently replied, "absolutely not." 

Peters, who refused to say whether he wants Biden to step down, told the CBS affiliate, "As much as I love Joe Biden, in those swing states, he’s having a hard time."

Biden’s debate performance did not give his campaign a boost in the swing states where he was already trailing Trump. 

Peters said he was willing to hear from the Biden campaign team about their plan to get back on track. Otherwise, he said the party might have to explore other options.

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"We want to know what [the campaign’s] plan is to win this election and turn these numbers around. If they don’t have a plan, then I think we have to move in a different direction," Peters said.

The president has admitted he did poorly during the debate, telling a Wisconsin radio station on Thursday, "I had a bad night. I screwed up. I made a mistake."

"But I learned from my father, when you get knocked down, just get back up," he added. "And you know, we’re gonna win this election. We’re gonna just beat Donald Trump as much as we did in 2020."

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Peters stressed needing to see a concrete strategy for how Biden will secure the swing states following his "bad night."

He told CBS, "The point is to win the election. It’s those seven to 10 states that this is going to be decided in, and Joe Biden’s trailing. We need a plan to win those states. And if Joe Biden’s got that plan, I want to hear about it. ASAP."

In response to the comments from Peters, the Biden campaign directed Fox News Digital to numerous elected Democrats "who have lined up in support of the President."

The campaign shared quotes from several of these lawmakers, including one from Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., who recently said, "I am 100% with the Biden-Harris ticket and I am standing by our president." It also shared California Gov. Gavin Newsom's recent statement: "I heard three words from the President tonight — he’s all in. And so am I. @JoeBiden’s had our back. Now it’s time to have his." 

The list also shared Hawaii Gov. Josh Green's recent support of Biden.

"I was with President Biden multiple times over the last year because of the Maui wildfires, and this was a guy who was on top of it," he said. "In this upcoming election, it is clear to me that we’re electing a commander in chief, not a debater in chief."