President Joe Biden lashed out at his closest aides in a closed-door meeting in January when he was told he was behind former President Donald Trump in two crucial battleground states, a report claimed.
Biden walked away from the 2020 election with close wins in Georgia and Michigan but according to NBC News, which spoke to several sources who claimed to be at a January strategy meeting, he was furious to find he was trailing Trump in both states.
The report painted a picture of a re-election campaign that was — and is — in disarray less than a year before Nov. 5, when Biden will most likely face off against Trump — again — in a general election.
Per NBC, Biden has been at odds with his advisers for months on how to reach voters to convince them to give him another term.
But the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks against Israel complicated his political situation, given many on the far left — voters Biden needs — have sided with Hamas and Palestinians living in Gaza.
NBC News reported that while he and his aides were discussing Biden’s lost support from pro-Palestinian Democrats two months ago, he lashed out.
The report said, “In a private meeting at the White House in January, allies of the president had just told him that his poll numbers in Michigan and Georgia had dropped over his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.
“Both are battleground states he narrowly won four years ago, and he can’t afford any backsliding if he is to once again defeat Donald Trump. He began to shout and swear, a lawmaker familiar with the meeting said.”
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At the core of Biden’s ire, per those who were at the meeting, was that Biden believed he had done his job correctly and was not getting the credit he felt he was owed on the economy.
Biden has also reportedly had it out with his advisers regarding his campaign’s messaging strategy.
According to the report, the president has “on occasion directed his ire at his tightknit senior staff” because his messaging on jobs has not resonated with voters.
Additionally, due to Biden’s advanced age and questions about whether he is fit to lead the country, those closest to him have “told him he should walk faster out of concern that his gait feeds impressions that he’s too old.”
But according to people close to Biden, his closest advisers are “worried about him tripping” while boarding Air Force One.
Biden has fallen numerous times throughout the first three years of his presidency and now uses a shortened staircase to enter the presidential jet through its belly and not the long, traditional staircase presidents generally use when traveling.
Per the report, Biden’s advisers also feel Biden can beat Trump in the general election, but there are concerns about his slumping approval ratings.
A recent Gallup survey found Biden with a 38 percent approval rating — lower than the three previous presidents who failed to secure re-election.
Trump with 48 percent, George H.W. Bush with 43 percent, and Jimmy Carter with 53 percent were each polling higher during their fourth year in the White House than Biden before they failed to secure a second term.
