Jill Biden revealed that she comforted Joe after his disastrous debate performance as even she admitted it was ‘on the minds’ of their campaign donors.
The First Lady has come under scrutiny in recent days amid growing fears over President Biden’s age deterioration, with some speculating that she is a driving force behind his insistence of remaining in the 2024 race.
At a fundraiser on Friday in New York City, Jill told supporters that her husband is ‘not a young man’, but said she only offered words of reassurance following his 90-minute debate ordeal.
‘After last night’s debate, he said, ‘You know, Jill, I don’t know what happened. I didn’t feel that great,” she began, per New York Times reporter Katie Rogers.
‘I said, ‘Look, Joe, we are not going to let 90 minutes define the four years that you’ve been president.”
Days later on Saturday afternoon, Joe was seen clutching his wife’s arm as they departed Marine One in The Hamptons, as the couple continue to hit the campaign trail together while under the spotlight.
The Bidens are in New York for a glitzy fundraiser in East Hampton at the home of hedge-fund billionaire Barry Rosenstein, with celebrities including Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick reportedly expected to attend.
The presidential motorcade also briefly stopped at the home of Avram Glazer – partial owner of Manchester United – after driving past lines of supporters, one of whom was seen holding a sign reading: ‘You got this, Joe. When you get knocked down, you get back up.’
Tickets to tonight’s event are as high as $250,000, however Biden may not be met with a friendly crows as donors are said to be ‘extremely disappointed’ in his debate performance.
‘Everyone paid in advance… so it could be an opportunity to encourage him to drop out,’ a source told the New York Post.
On debate night, Jill raised eyebrows as she was seen carefully helping the 81-year-old off the debate stage before congratulating him for ‘answering all the questions’, which some observers criticized for the low bar he cleared.
She appears set to stubbornly stand by his side until November, despite the debate reportedly sparking panic inside the Democratic party as they look to potentially oust the president.
A source close to the First Lady told DailyMail.com that the couple ‘know (Joe) didn’t have the best first debate’, but they have no plans on changing course.
‘Is he the best person to be president, now and for the next four years? 100% yes,’ the insider said.
‘She’s his wife of 47 years; she is his biggest supporter, biggest champion, and biggest believer.’
The day after Biden’s debate fiasco, the president appeared far stronger and more virile at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he insisted that he ‘intends to win this election’ in November.
Jill Biden called it an ‘amazing event’, where over 2,000 supporters gathered to show support.
The rally, however, did little to dispel rumors that Democrats may look to intervene and urge Biden to drop out of the race – with former President Barack Obama and the First Lady seen as the few people who may convince him.
Biden already has the Democratic nomination locked up, and would need to voluntarily step aside to not take on Trump in November.
Betting markets showed that Biden’s chances of re-election took a significant hit after the debate, with polling aggregator RealClearPolling, which tracks a number of betting markets, showing that Biden now stands with just a 22.2 percent chance of re-election, compared to Trump’s 54.8 percent.
Biden stood at 35 percent before his feeble performance on the debate stage, still behind Trump, however RealClear’s aggregator has Trump easily beating Biden in a number of markets, with the president’s worst odds coming from Betfair – at just 16 percent.
Talk of replacing Biden as the Democratic nominee has seen California Governor Gavin Newsom’s name floated, with PredictIt now offering Newsom a 14 percent chance of beating Trump in November.
And at BetOnline – where Biden’s odds dropped from +130 to +300 overnight – the company said it received a flurry of bets placed on potential replacements for Biden on the Democrat ticket.
‘We just kept taking bets over and over again on Gavin Newsom and Michelle Obama,’ BetOnline political oddsmaker Paul Krishnamurty told the New York Post.