Biden allies rally behind him with a public show of support as he spends family time at Camp David

WASHINGTON -- While President Joe Biden was retired of show astatine Camp David Sunday spending clip with family, salient Democrats rallied with a nationalist amusement of unwavering enactment for his run pursuing his unsteady statement performance and growing anxiety implicit whether helium should stay successful the White House race.

“I bash not judge that Joe Biden has a occupation starring for the adjacent 4 years,” said 1 adjacent ally, Democratic Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina. "Joe Biden should proceed to tally connected his record.”

Biden's allies blanketed the Sunday speech shows and conceded that the president's statement show against Republican Donald Trump connected Thursday nighttime had ranged from subpar to bad. They encouraged voters to spot past the moment, look astatine Biden's semipermanent grounds and absorption connected Trump's myriad falsehoods during the 90-minute debate.

Privately, though, Biden's run has been moving to tamp down concerns implicit the statement connected CNN wherever Biden sounded raspy and astatine times was incapable to decorativeness sentences. The run has spent the days since past moving to support donors and surrogates connected board.

After a New York fundraising lawsuit Saturday, Biden traveled with his household to Camp David, the statesmanlike retreat extracurricular Washington. The antecedently planned travel was besides being utilized to instrumentality household photographs for the Democratic National Convention successful Chicago successful August.

Even earlier the debate, the property of the 81-year-old Democratic president has been a liability with voters, and the prime-time faceoff appeared to reenforce the public’s deep-seated concerns earlier possibly the largest assemblage helium volition garner successful the 4 months until Election Day. CNN said much than 51 cardinal radical watched the debate.

Sen. Rafael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat and Baptist minister, said determination had been “more than a fewer Sundays erstwhile I privation I had preached a amended sermon,” relating the acquisition to Biden’s statement performance.

“But aft the sermon was implicit it was my occupation to embody the message, to amusement up for the radical that I serve. And that’s what Joe Biden has been doing his full life,” Warnock said, echoing the connection from different supporters that Biden had a atrocious debate, but a beingness of bully governance.

Warnock, similar Clyburn and others, pivoted to Trump's galore falsehoods during the statement — falsehoods Biden and the statement moderators often failed to information cheque from the signifier — including astir the Jan. 6, 2021, onslaught connected the Capitol by Trump supporters, migration and the result of the 2020 election.

“Whenever his rima was moving, helium was lying,” Warnock said of Trump.

Trump state Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., dodged questions astir Trump's mendacious claims and praised Trump's show portion accusing the nationalist quality media of hiding a debilitating condition.

Trump “was strong. He was clear. He was coherent,” Graham said.

He called Biden “compromised" and said "the media is covering” it up.

Behind closed doors, a consciousness of interest was simmering among immoderate Democrats that Biden's run and the Democratic National Committee were not taking earnestly capable the interaction of Biden's performance.

The DNC chairman, Jaime Harrison, and Biden's run manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, held a Saturday day telephone with dozens of committee members crossed the state — a radical of immoderate of the astir influential members of the enactment — wherever they offered rosy appraisal of the way guardant and nary accidental for others connected the telephone to respond with questions.

Multiple committee members connected the call, astir granted anonymity to speech astir the backstage discussion, described feeling similar they were being asked to disregard a superior predicament.

“There were a fig of things that could person been said successful addressing the situation. But we didn’t get that. We were being gaslit," said Joe Salazar, an elected DNC subordinate from Colorado, who was connected the call. Gaslit is simply a word for being manipulated oregon misled.

Advocates specified arsenic Clyburn, whose enactment was captious to Biden's South Carolina superior triumph successful 2020, pointed to the president's North Carolina rally connected Friday erstwhile helium appeared energized and animated, a crisp pivot from the nighttime before.

“I cognize I’m not a young antheral — to authorities the obvious,” Biden said astatine the rally. “Folks, I don’t locomotion arsenic casual arsenic I utilized to. I don’t talk arsenic smoothly arsenic I utilized to. I don’t statement arsenic good arsenic I utilized to.”

“But I cognize what I bash know: I cognize however to archer the truth. I cognize close from wrong. And I cognize however to bash this job. I cognize however to get things done. And I cognize similar millions of Americans know: When you get knocked down, you get backmost up," helium said to rousing cheers.

Biden's squad has reported that the run amassed implicit $33 cardinal since Thursday, $26 cardinal from smaller dollar donations, including astir fractional from first-time donors this cycle. The run said Thursday had been its champion “grassroots” fundraising day, portion Friday, the time aft the debate, was its 2nd best.

Biden run communications manager Michael Tyler said determination had been nary interior conversations “whatsoever” astir Biden stepping aside, though he, too, acknowledged that the president had a “bad night” connected stage.

Clyburn and Graham were connected CNN's “State of the Union and Warnock appeared connected NBC's ”Meet the Press

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Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writers Matthew Daly, Zeke Miller and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.