President Joe Biden could be in serious trouble come the November election, especially with the polls being so out of his favor when it comes to his approval rating and how he fares against former and potentially future President Donald Trump. Biden and his reelection campaign seem to know it, and are certainly angry about it. That includes looking to get the normally friendly press more involved on their side to help win the election. When it comes to the media strategy though, there's been a serious emphasis on "friendly press."
Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki left her position in May 2022, starting as a contributor at MSNBC not long after. She was even given her own show, "Inside with Jen Psaki." Last September, in a move that our sister site of Twitchy aptly noted was not shocking, it was announced that Psaki would not only be providing coverage Sunday at 12pm, but also Monday at 8pm, a convenient primetime slot just in time for 2024 coverage.
The Biden reelection campaign falls even more directly into Psaki's commentary when it comes to who she recently had on her program.
Axios' Alex Thompson highlighted Instagram posts from the show's account promoting an interview that Psaki did with Campaign Communications Director Michael Tyler and Deputy Campaign Manager Rob Flaherty and another with Principal Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks. As Twitchy also highlighted, the replies came flying in pointing out how much distaste and distrust everyday Americans have for the mainstream media.
Biden campaign leaders sat down with former Biden WH press secretary Jen Psaki pic.twitter.com/8VXZG1mk7c
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) January 14, 2024
One of the clips being promoted includes quite the spin on Biden's age. The segment sounds like something out of a campaign strategy meeting, not an interview where one of the people involved is supposedly a journalist.
Psaki shared with Tyler and Flaherty that something she "gets asked about a lot is the president's age," claiming "a lot of this, in my view, was driven by kind of right-wing efforts to make him seem old and senile," adding "that was never my experience" and "he's the age he is," as the Biden campaign staffers murmured in agreement. "But it still is an issue to combat, right, it pops in polls, it is something that comes up in focus groups," Psaki went on to acknowledge.
She then pivoted to addressing Flaherty about his involvement of "kind of flipping the 'Dark Brandon' meme to make it more of a winner, probably to the anger of the people who are screaming, you know, 'Let's Go Brandon' at events." Her question, then, was "how do you combat this kind of ongoing attack on his age, and these attacks and suggestions that he's not up for the job?"
Tyler offered that "the American people know Joe Biden's age," and even tried to turn it into a positive since "they also know that with that age comes wisdom, comes experience, comes judgment," which is supposedly "why they elected him in the first place." From there, Tyler also offered that Americans "understand that those qualities stand in stark contrast to everybody else on the other side," particularly as it relates to Donald Trump."
Speaking further to the 'Dark Brandon' meme, Flaherty offered that "the Dark Brandon stuff works because, yes, it's funny, and yes it's sort of meme-y, but also it is based in that truth." The three of them even reminisced about examples, with Psaki bringing up Biden's aviators, as she laughed to share "that was my favorite."
Flaherty revealed that supporters were behind the 'Dark Brandon' memes, sharing "it's a bunch of people who support the president who are doing it themselves," adding "that speaks to a core truth about the president's experiences and his ability to get stuff done."
Polls show, though, as Psaki herself acknowledged, that voters are concerned with Biden's age and mental capabilities. So why would she feel the need to reference supposed "right-wing efforts" as she calls them? The president isn't getting any younger. He'll be 82-years-old just days after Election Day.
"The American people know Joe Biden's age. They also know that with that age comes wisdom, comes experience... the Dark Brandon stuff works because, yes, it's funny. But also it is based in that truth."
— Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) January 12, 2024
Tune in Sunday at 12pm for @jrpsaki's visit to Biden campaign headquarters pic.twitter.com/3bh1vl4Xpn
In speaking with Fulks, Psaki addressed the concerns surrounding Biden's reelection campaign, with reports from The Washington Post indicating that former President Barack Obama has met with Biden to express his concerns.
Psaki focused on how the concerns are with "the functioning" of the campaign, including when it comes to communication between Delaware and the White House and the speed of the campaign.
Fulks offered that "I think what President Obama is talking about there is just urgency," adding "our campaign feels that urgency" and "most importantly, Joe Biden feels that urgency."
.@quentinfulks: “I think what President Obama is talking about there is just urgency… Our campaign feels that urgency. Most importantly, Joe Biden feels that urgency.”
— Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) January 13, 2024
Tune in tomorrow at 12pm ET for more of @jrpsaki’s conversation with Biden’s Principal Deputy Campaign Manager pic.twitter.com/1UGrvbZy04
If Biden feels that "urgency," it's shown in how he's demonized Trump, his likely opponent come November, as well as his supporters. That "urgency" comes through with countless speeches and ads focusing on January 6 and the supposed threat to democracy that Trump poses. Meanwhile, Biden's weaponized Department of Justice (DOJ) has engaged in what has been decried as election interference for bringing a slew of indictments against Trump.
Biden went with such a tactic for the 2022 November midterm elections, which turned out far more disappointing for Republicans than was expected. As much as he loathed the tactic, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) shared on Fox News the following morning that it might have paid off.
That Biden's campaign team would go for friendly interviews with Psaki is not only illustrative of the mainstream media, it's also hardly surprising. Biden's reelection campaign staff, as Matt has covered, has sat members of the press down to tell them what they've gotten wrong and where they've "fallen short." Spencer also covered last month that The Washington Post noted that Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden "have told aides and friends they are frustrated by the president’s low approval rating and the polls that show him trailing former president Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination..."
The reliance on the friendly mainstream media as well as the Biden campaign's tactic of demonizing not. just Trump, but his supporters, was perhaps no more encapsulated as how networks like CNN and MSNBC covered Trump's massive win on Monday night in the Iowa Caucus.
CNN cut away from Trump's speech when he brought up immigration, with Jake Tapper also claiming that Iowa voters who handed Trump his victory believed in his "big lie." MSNBC didn't even air the speech at all, and was full of commentators who bashed again, not just Trump, but Iowa voters, especially Rachel Maddow and Joy Reid who castigated the state as being "overrepresented by white Christians!" Days later, "Joy Reid" is still trending over X.
But again, regardless of what the Biden reelection campaign staffers want to tell the American people through the disdainful press, the situation isn't looking good for Biden. RealClearPolling still has Trump up, currently by +1.3, in a hypothetical rematch from 2020, and worse still, just 21.4 percent believe that the country is going in the "right direction."
