Florida Dem claims worries about Biden after debate driven by 'elites,' not voters
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. brushed aside concerns about President Biden's age after his widely panned debate performance.
Democratic Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said panic over President Biden's debate performance was driven by the media and "political elites," not voters.
CNN host John Berman pressed the former Democratic National Committee chair about how the Biden campaign can assuage voters' concerns about the president's age and fitness for office, following his widely panned debate performance last Thursday.
"Look, this is a conversation, honestly, John, that is taking place among elites," Wasserman Schultz told Berman, going on to praise the president's record on the economy and health care. "My constituents at home, voters across this country, are not going to be focused on what The New York Times or The Atlanta Journal-Constitution talks about. They‘re not focused on what the political elites are hand-wringing about. They‘re focused on making sure that we can have a president like Joe Biden."
Biden has faced calls from sympathetic voices in the Times, the Chicago Tribune, the AJC, "The View," MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, and New York Times columnists Thomas Friedman, Paul Krugman and Nicholas Kristof, among numerous others, to drop out following his listless debate performance.
Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said only "elites" were worried about President Biden's widely panned debate performance. (CNN/Screenshot)
"I just think anyone who was anywhere this weekend talking to anybody, the subject of discussion was the debate and was President Biden‘s performance," Berman said.
However, Wasserman Schultz said Democratic voters in her district cared more about Biden's record and wanted the party to press on and stop worrying about the debate.
"When I talked to voters in my district, they want to make sure that we can put our heads down, move forward, and organize and mobilize. That’s what we need to be doing right now," she said.
"At the end of the day, we got to stop. We don‘t have time for this hand-wringing," she added.
President Biden's debate performance renewed concerns about his age and fitness for office. (Getty Images)
While Wasserman Schultz advised her party to not dwell on these concerns and forge ahead, other Biden supporters gave starkly different advice.
Former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said Sunday that the Democratic Party should be "honest" about Biden's chances at winning the race without more voters supporting him.
"Biden is at the lowest point right now, I think, in terms of his campaign, so you've got to think he can grow from here," Plouffe told MSNBC host Jen Psaki, a former flack for Biden.
"Can Joe Biden overcome that?" he asked. "I think he can. But we should be honest about where we are, which is, without more voters saying, 'actually, I think he’s up for this,' we won't win."
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A CNN poll found debate watchers felt former President Trump had won the debate against President Biden. (Getty Images)
A CNN poll found debate viewers felt former President Trump soundly defeated Biden. More than two-thirds believed Trump won, compared to 33% who favored Biden.
Fox News' Jeffrey Clark contributed to this report.
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