Dem strategist admits Biden’s debate performance was ‘shock to the system’ for party’s activists on ‘front lines’

A Democratic strategist admitted Monday that President Joe Biden’s poor performance during a June 27, 2024, debate with former President Donald Trump “shocked” Democrats on “the front lines.”

A Wall Street Journal article published on Dec. 19 revealed White House aides “insulated” Biden, even from Cabinet members, as his health declined, months after similar articles published by the outlet earlier in the year generated pushback from some media outlets. Corcoran Street Group President Brad Howard offered no excuses when “America Reports” co-host John Roberts asked if Democrats could be trusted with “anything” given their refusal to admit to Biden’s decline.

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“It’s a very real concern among swing voters, when you go back to the debate performance that we saw, that ended in catastrophe,” Howard said. “What is interesting about the poll numbers, there is that most swing members didn’t move the debate because they had this concern about his age from the very beginning, and it was baked into the cake. The reaction was from the troops at the front lines of the Democratic Party, the activists. What they saw was so alarming because it was so different than what they were told that it shocked them and that’s what dominated the news. That was a shock to the system.”

“That created a huge wake-up call, and everyone saw that moment, that is when the calls dramatically ticked up for him to step aside, and he did, and I’m grateful for that, because I, like most Americans, had concerns about his age,” Howard continued.

During a June 5, 2024, episode of “Morning Joe,” co-host Joe Scarborough and fellow panelists on the MSNBC show attacked The Wall Street Journal over a June 4, 2024, article featuring dozens of observations from Republicans and Democrats about Biden’s mental fitness. Roberts questioned Howard about Democrats’ “gaslighting” Americans about Biden’s health.

MSNBC host Jen Psaki was among those who repeatedly asserted Biden was in good health during her time as White House press secretary. Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also insisted reports of Biden’s decline were erroneous.

A wave of books, including “Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House” by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes and “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, reportedly go into details about efforts to conceal Biden’s mental decline from the American public, former CNN contributor Chris Cillizza said in March.

“Obviously, these issues you could see with your eyes and you can’t hide them forever and it became on full display with the debate,” Howard said. “And two, the other thing to remember, these are subjective assessments, and you take them with what you will, but keep in mind, the Republicans nominating a guy with you know, several felony convictions and counts they had deep concerns with was going to be terrible for the country and terrible for the economy. And in that context, you will obviously play up your team and play down the other team here until there is an aspect baked into the cake.”

“They already knew at that point they were losing to Trump! They knew it!” Roberts responded, with Howard admitting, “When you start to say something that’s different than what voters are seeing and voters losing trust in you and voters were mainly in the swing voter column because they were concerned about his age and not budging on it and that is why you had the reaction on the left the way you did.”

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