State Department briefing turns awkward as reporters repeatedly ask about Biden’s competency

A State Department spokesman joined the list of surrogates for the president facing uncomfortable questions about the president’s performance at last Thursday’s debate during the agency’s daily briefing on Monday.

Vedant Patel was grilled by reporters in the room over whether the agency was aware of criticisms or concerns raised by foreign leaders or their representatives in the wake of the president’s shaky appearance onstage in Atlanta, where he seemingly forgot his point at times, sounded hoarse and whispery, and rambled off track while answering questions.

Patel told reporters that he was not aware of any such concerns being raised privately by foreign leaders even as reporters pressed him with public examples.

“The world, and world leaders, know the president,” Patel said. “They know the policies he pursues and he champions. They like, and believe, in the policies we are pursuing.”

Next week’s Nato summit, he added, would be another opportunity for the US to lay out its vision abroad, namely that “American engagement matters” and underscoring the importance of having “a seat at the table”. While not naming the former president specifically, the remarks appeared to be a clear shot across the bow at Donald Trump’s isolationism-trending foreign policy impulses.

Patel then claimed he would “leave punditry and electioneering to others”, but faced further questions on the issue.

“Have you had any contacts from allies or other countries expressing concern over his performance and asking for reassurance?”

The spokeman said that he had no conversations to read out but stressed again that world leaders were familiar with Joe Biden and his policies.

It was an answer that didn’t satisfy those reporters at the briefing, including the AP’s Matt Lee.

“Putting aside the ‘punditry and electioneering’, what was your reaction? What was the reaction in this building?” asked Lee.

“Matt, it’s really not appropriate for me to be offering any commentary,” Patel responded. “And I think you’ve been covering the State Department long enough to know that.”

“Yeah, but the question’s gotta be asked,” Lee pushed. The two then talked over each other for a few seconds, with Lee ribbing Patel over saying that he “appreciated” the question but wouldn’t answer it.

“So, to follow up...you’ve heard absolutely nothing? You’re not aware of any foreign government [that] has said, since Thursday night, to you, or to anyone, you’re not aware of, about what happened?” Lee asked once more.

“That is correct,” Patel said.

It was an uncharacteristic breach into the realm of campaigns and politics for the State Department’s press corps veterans, and a sign of just how far the fallout from last Thursday’s debate has reached around Washington. The president’s campaign was battling back against criticism as the week dawned, armed with a $30m post-debate fundraising surge but buffeted by twin editorials from the New York Times and Atlanta Journal-Constitution calling for Biden to drop out of the 2024 race.

Over the weekend, one of the administration’s most influential allies in the lower chamber, Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, admitted on MSNBC that his party was having “serious conversations” about whether Biden would continue as the nominee in the future. Biden’s campaign, meanwhile, has strongly denied that the president is considering stepping aside.

The president’s deputy campaign manager swiped at that suggestion over the weekend after NBC News reported that the president would be discussing such a topic with close family members when he arrived for a pre-planned trip to Camp David over the weekend, calling the story “media-fabricated bull****”.

Campaign officials reportedly spent the weekend reassuring donors (to limited success) and roping members of the president’s party into line for fear of further damaging remarks like Raskin’s. On Sunday, despite the campaign’s blustering denials, the president had a conversation about the race’s future with his family; those who gathered at Camp David reportedly urged him to stay in the race while heaping blame on his top campaign advisers, including Ron Klain and Anita Dunn, for Biden’s poor showing at the debate.

The president is set for one more televised debate with Trump in September, following his party’s nominating convention in August. Typically, debates between opposing-party candidates have occurred after the two parties host their respective conventions.

Polling of registered voters after Thursday’s debate indicates that just 21 per cent believe Biden has the required mental faculties to run for office again in 2024 and serve as president for another four years.