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6 days ago
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EXCLUSIVE: Joe Biden’s reelection campaign tried once again today to calm the nerves of Hollywood donors over the president’s terrible debate performance last week against Donald Trump.
“Every president in my lifetime has had a shitty first debate” campaign char Jennifer O’Malley Dillion told the assembled contributors on a 2:30 pm PT scheduled call that started late. “We’re very confident in the president’s ability to go out there and make his case clearly.
Following days of essentially “ignoring what we saw with our eyes,” as one long term Hollywood Biden supporter told Deadline, the call Monday was to around 500 of the B-level donors. As calls for the President to consider stepping aside or proving his mettle with a long and live sit-down interview with a network anchor proliferate among what was once a loyal legion, the campaign has been offering what one participating today called “stupid spin.”
With no appearance yet Monday by Biden over the momentous presidential immunity ruling by the Supreme Court this morning, the delayed conference call led by O’Malley Dillion left one deep pocketed supporter asking afterwards in anger: “who is running the country?”
A well-established producer on the call refereed to it as “a f*cking farce…insult to our intelligence.”
On the call with Dillion earlier, another donor said to Deadline that there was no indication of whether Biden had plans for a sit-down interview or press conference, just that he would be making remarks on the Supreme Court immunity ruling this evening.
The embattled President returned back to the White House from a weekend with his family at Camp David in the last half hour. After little more than a boilerplate statement on the landmark decision the High Court’s conservative majority delivered to the much indicted Trump, the administration announced around 2:57 pm PT that Biden started speaking to the nation at around 4:45 pm PT on the SCOTUS ruling. “
“This nation is founded on the principle there are no kings in America,” Biden said, reading off a teleprompter as usual. “No one, no one is above the law – not even the President of the United States. Today’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, that fundamentally changed.”
A top Hollywood supporter, who was not on the call, said that the next few days will be key, as it will give a fuller picture of the polls and the impact on congressional races and fundraising. The Supreme Court ruling may have the effect of further clarifying what is at stake, the supporter said.
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