- As President Joe Biden faces calls for him to step down, his chief of staff is trying to rally his team together.
- During an all-staff conference call on Wednesday, he asked staff to block out noise and focus on their work.
- Biden, meanwhile, has been busy solidifying support for his campaign and has said he still intends to run.
White House staff have been told to do everything in their power to navigate the chaos to salvage President Joe Biden’s 2024 election campaign, according to multiple reports.
According to The Hill, Biden’s chief of staff, Jeff Zients, held an all-staff conference call on Wednesday, telling aides to be proud of their work and not to listen to the noise surrounding Biden’s ramping up his reelection effort.
As Biden struggles to reassure donors and key supporters following his disastrous debate defeat this week, Zients has told his staff to hit the ground running and “run, run, run,” The New York Times reported.
The Hill reported that Zients encouraged his staff to be disciplined and supportive of one another.
The Associated Press also reported on the meeting, describing it as an effort to boost morale at the White House.
The announcement came after Biden told his team and Democratic National Committee staff on Wednesday he intended to continue campaigning, denying reports that he privately believed his campaign was in irreparable trouble.
“I will not resign. I will fight this campaign to the end, and we will win,” Biden said.
The president has been battling the possibility of a major defeat among panicked donors and key supporters since the debate, as he repeatedly stammered, didn’t finish his sentences and at times appeared distracted and lost.
Since then, at least two Democrats have called on Biden to give up on reelection, and two others have said the president is likely to lose to his rival, former President Donald Trump.
Biden’s office has been widely reported to receive frequent calls and meetings with political leaders, including Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the House Majority Leader, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
The White House has so far been successful in garnering support from several Democratic governors, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, Minnesota Governor Tim Walsh and New York Governor Kathy Hauckle.
Experts and observers still have doubts.
“A growing body of evidence shows that when failure is looming, people often press ahead with decisions rather than rethink their plans,” Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, wrote in a Times op-ed. “Fighting feels better than giving up.”
The Biden campaign and White House press teams did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.
