Joe unplugged: Biden fundraisers clash with US script, please donors
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[January 02, 2024]
By Steve Holland, Nandita Bose and Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As president, Joe Biden has relied heavily on
Teleprompters and pre-written scripts for his public speeches, a mostly
disciplined approach that's been in sharp contrast to his decades of
free-wheeling, sometimes less-than-diplomatic remarks.
But holding a microphone in a room of donors who support his 2024
re-election campaign, Democrat Biden in recent months has dug into the
Chinese government, the Republican Party and U.S. ally Israel for its
bombing of the Gaza Strip.
He's likely just getting started. The 2024 campaign trail will include
dozens of fundraising events.
Biden first told donors in June that he considered Chinese President Xi
Jinping to be a dictator, prompting howls of protest from Beijing.
Biden, 81, said at a fundraiser in December that he might not have
launched his re-election bid if Republican Donald Trump, who he defeated
in 2020, was not also running, a discordant message for a campaign
battling concerns about his age and low approval ratings. Trump is 77.
Then, on Dec. 12, Biden said he brought up Israel's "indiscriminate"
bombing in a private discussion with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
the first time Biden has publicly expressed real frustration with
Netanyahu's government since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and Israel's
retaliatory strikes on Gaza.
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Biden's open-mic disclosures are clashing with the White House system
built to keep him on script.
The comments sometimes baffle, rankle, or worry his aides, who are
forced to explain or contradict them later.
They often struggle to shift attention back to the administration's
message of the day, or explain why Biden's comments are seemingly at
odds with official U.S. policy.
As Biden himself has acknowledged, his candor can sometimes cause
problems. "No one ever doubts I mean what I say," Biden told donors last
year. "The problem is I sometimes say all that I mean."
The White House and the Biden re-election campaign declined to comment.
WHAT DID BIDEN MEAN?
Biden's use of the word "indiscriminate" raised questions about the U.S.
view of the legality of Israel's campaign, which has killed more than
21,800 people, according to health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza.
White House and State Department officials were grilled by journalists
on what Biden meant, exactly, and whether he speaks for the United
States government or not.
It's not just a question of semantics. The Biden's administration's own
policy prohibits arms to be transferred to other nations for genocide,
crimes against humanity, breaches of the Geneva conventions or serious
violations of international law. The latter prohibits "indiscriminate
attacks."
Biden was just expressing concern that Israel be careful and mindful of
civilian casualties, spokesperson John Kirby told reporters the next
day.
Biden also told donors at the same fundraiser that he told Netanyahu his
government needed "to change," and he had said in the past that "I don't
agree with a damn thing you have to say."
As Biden warmed up to the topic, reporters were asked to leave the room
by Biden's aides, but declined to do so.
Kirby, pressed the next day to clarify, reached for a more diplomatic
tone. "The president realizes that Israel is a powerful, vibrant
democracy, and any change in the government is going to have to be
determined by the Israeli people," he said.
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![](../images/010224PIX/news_i3.jpg)
U.S. President Joe Biden departs a Biden Victory Fund campaign
fundraising event in the Kalorama neighborhood, in Washington, U.S.,
October 27, 2023. REUTERS/Anna Rose Layden/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jan/02/images/ads/current/atlantabank_lda_LUAL_2023.png)
The comments on Israel instantly became a top news story of the day,
displacing a visit to Washington by Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskiy, who was pleading with Republicans in Congress to approve
more funding to repel Russia's invasion.
Consistency in messaging is important, particularly in matters of
international diplomacy, foreign policy experts say.
"At some point if what you say in your fundraising speeches is very
different from what you're saying in your other public appearances
it's a problem," said Lanhee Chen, a long-time political operative
and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
QUASI-PUBLIC EVENTS
Biden's public speeches are carefully crafted and vetted,
spontaneous exchanges with reporters are limited and he rarely holds
full-blown news conferences. When he does, some of his answers
appear to be written down ahead of time and read aloud.
Some aides say quasi-public events like fundraisers allow Biden to
test-drive lines and thoughts that he may use later in public with a
friendly crowd.
Biden's re-election campaign could actually use more of this type of
aggressive language, especially pushing back on Republican attacks,
several donors told Reuters.
"Anytime he sounds more aggressive or takes an aggressive stance,
his (approval) numbers go up," said a source who helps Democrats
raise money.
"This is the same nervous Nellie, cautious crew that advised Hillary
[Clinton] to stay on message," the source said of White House aides
who would prefer that the president stick to the script. "Biden
needs to come out and tell people what he thinks, it is effective
when he does that."
During a fundraiser for her failed 2016 presidential bid, Clinton
referred to half of Trump supporters as "deplorables," then quickly
said publicly she regretted the comment.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jan/02/images/ads/current/lcdj_sda_LUAL_2023.png)
The Biden campaign and the Democratic Party raised significant hauls
in the two quarters since Biden announced his re-election bid in
April of 2023; $72 million in the second quarter and $71 million in
the third, outpacing Trump and Republicans.
While a small pool of reporters traditionally follow U.S. presidents
around in public, recording their every utterance or stumble,
whether or not to allow press to these closed-door events is a
matter of personal choice.
Following a procedure he adopted during his 2020 campaign amid
concerns about the influence of big-money donors, Biden allows
limited access to a small number of reporters as long as they do not
take video or pictures or use the audio for broadcast.
Trump has barred reporters from similar events.
(Reporting By Steve Holland, Nandita Bose and Trevor Hunnicutt;
Editing by Heather Timmons and Grant McCool)
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