by There’s one thing a president can do when Congress is an ungovernable mess, poll numbers are flashing red, and crises abroad show no signs of resolving themselves. And that thing is: get out of town.
President Biden traveled to New York on Wednesday to headline three fundraising events, where he presented himself as the last line of defense against Donald Trump’s re-election and as a dedicated, if flawed, leader who had been around long enough to recognize the existential threat that Trump represents to democratic institutions, including the presidency.
“It’s dangerous for us to get involved in this kind of politics, because it ends up dragging us all into the background,” Biden said during his third reception, where his voice dropped to a whisper after a day of shaking hands. , taking selfies and giving speeches.
“It’s not that he’s that good, but you have to have someone who can beat someone.”
Biden also preempted criticism of his age by joking that he was not 81 years old, but “40 times two.” But in the halls and ballrooms of New York City, any enthusiasm for a second Biden term seemed to be mixed with fear at the idea of a second Trump term.
“We are here for him and for the next four years,” said Maureen White, a Democratic donor and host of Biden’s third reception of the day, standing next to the president. “But we’re also here because the consequences of not electing Joe Biden are terrifying.”
At each event, Biden reorganized his message to the crowd, but focused primarily on Trump, even if some of his stories seemed to veer off script and lose sense of chronology.
Several times, Biden strayed from his original point in a story about his upbringing, his decades in Congress or his concern about Trump. At one point, Biden mentioned a meeting with Helmut Kohl, the former German chancellor, at a Group of 7 summit shortly after taking office in 2021; Kohl died in 2017. At the end of the day, Biden was recounting a request to deliver Sen. Strom Thurmond’s eulogy as he spoke about the Republican Party.
“They didn’t change their views, but there was a sense, oddly enough, of civility,” Biden said, recounting his work with Thurmond and other segregationists. “The thing is, we’ve changed dramatically.”
Hoping to hit everyone from policy-focused activists to community health workers who had borne the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic, the Biden campaign hosted three separate events on Wednesday. The first was a small panel focused on the weather on the Upper West Side. The second was a great reception with Latin fans at the Mandarin Oriental.
The third was held in an opulent residence across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Manhattanites, including actor Robert DeNiro, attended, with risotto, chicken satay and coconut shrimp on the menu. Among the artwork was a small Israeli flag.
At all three events, Biden largely stayed away from the war in Gaza, and although the protests were barely visible from the presidential motorcade, people angry over his support for Israel’s campaign against Hamas had gathered to demonstrate at different points. from the city.
No president likes protesters, and Biden stayed away from people who came waving Palestinian flags, people who are also part of the base he needs to keep intact during an election year. Both the president and administration officials have responded carefully.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to New York that protesters had the right to “make sure their voices are heard peacefully.” We support it. The president supports him. “You listen to the president when… when situations occur.”
At one point, when Biden arrived at the Mandarin Oriental to speak to a large group of Democrats, many of them affiliated with SOMOS, a Latino-led community health group, protesters had gathered 35 floors below.
A crowd that one police officer estimated at about 100 people gathered at Columbus Circle to protest the Biden administration’s support for Israel during the country’s war with Hamas. Several voters who consider themselves Democrats or leftists and who voted for Biden in 2020 said they were unhappy with him and were reconsidering voting.
Sam Skinner, a 24-year-old who lives in Queens, said he voted for Biden in 2020, but the president’s handling of the war made him reconsider whether he would vote for him again.
“I think he’s a really dangerous person to have as president,” Skinner said of Trump, “but right now Biden seems to be the danger, actively putting people’s lives at risk.
“I feel like Biden’s strategy seems to be waiting right now for Trump to say something super crazy and look chaotic,” Skinner added.
The chaos caused by the Republicans was, in fact, Biden’s main objective. According to Democratic donors, the strategy makes money: Biden’s campaign reported having about $46 million in cash on hand at the end of December, compared to $33 million for the Trump campaign, according to documents filed Wednesday with the Federal Electoral Commission. .
At multiple points during his visit to New York, the president sharply criticized Trump for pressuring Republicans to abandon a border deal. He chastised Republicans for failing to support Ukraine in its efforts to fend off a Russian invasion: “What are we doing? Step back?”
He turned to an oft-repeated story about his decision to enter the 2020 presidential race, which came after Trump refused to condemn a group of white supremacists who held a deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. And he twice criticized Mr. Trump’s comments after a school shooting in Iowa in January, in which the former president told a crowd they should “get over” the shooting.
“Just get over it?” Mr. Biden said, raising his voice to shout. “What the hell is he doing?”
Earlier in the day, the Gaza protests were not detectable from the wood-paneled living room of Larry Linden, a philanthropist and climate activist who was a managing director at Goldman Sachs. Standing next to the president, Linden told a crowd of supporters gathered at his Upper West Side home that Biden “seems to excel at just about everything,” including leading the United States out of the coronavirus pandemic, all “while maintaining his integrity.” , decency, faith and sympathy.”
(A smiling Mr. Biden bravely shook his head at the “excels at everything” part.)
In a later email, Linden praised the president for his efforts to help the environment and said he risked falling apart if he lost in November.
“He has done more to address the climate challenge than any other president,” Linden wrote. “And his likely opponent has made a loud and public commitment to undermining all of those achievements, putting the nation and the planet in great danger.”
Liset Cruz and Julian Roberts-Grmela contributed reports.
