Details of a disastrous Zoom call between President Joe Biden and moderate Democrats are emerging. At one point Biden reportedly screamed at a Bronze Star veteran.
The report came from Puck, which did not name the sources for its report. The Saturday afternoon call was initially overshadowed by the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
The call was a chance for moderate Democrats to voice their fears that as Biden sinks, so do their chances, Puck reported.
“The call was even worse than the debate,” one source said.
The call came as word emerged that in another call that day, Biden was given a note telling him to be positive — a note Biden read during the call.
NEW: Joe Biden was reportedly passed a note during a call with the Congressional Progressive Caucus that told him to “stay positive” which he read out loud.
The note was an instruction to the president that said “stay positive you are sounding defensive” which Biden then read to… pic.twitter.com/2FLvByi4dK
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 13, 2024
“He was rambling; he’d start an answer then lose his train of thought, then would just say ‘whatever.’ He really couldn’t complete an answer. I lost a ton of respect for him,” the source said, referring to Biden.
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“Had the assassination attempt not occurred an hour later, I imagine 50 people on that Zoom were ready to come out publicly against him,” a source Puck said was a member of Congress was quoted as saying.
During the call, Biden teed off on Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, Puck reported, saying it had seen video of the exchange.
Tense showdown between Biden and Army veteran @RepJasonCrow in which the president compares Crow’s Bronze Star to Beau Biden’s Bronze Star and dares Crow to name a more effective world leader. “Tell me!” Crow replies: “It’s not breaking through, Mr. President.” From @juliaioffe: pic.twitter.com/T1LBC3uhlN
— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) July 17, 2024
Crow asked about the importance of national security to voters, prompting Biden to erupt and tell him he was wrong.
“I put NATO together. Name me a foreign leader who thinks I’m not the most effective leader in the world on foreign policy. Tell me! Tell me who the hell that is! Tell me who put NATO back together! Tell me who enlarged NATO, tell me who did the Pacific basin!”
“Tell me who did something that you’ve never done with your Bronze Star like my son,” the president said.
“Things are in chaos, and I’m bringing some order to it. And again, find me a world leader who’s an ally of ours who doesn’t think I’m the most respected person they’ve ever …” Biden said.
After Biden extolled his virtues, Crow told him, “It’s not breaking through, Mr. President, to our voters.”
“You oughta talk about it!” Biden said.
“On national security, nobody has been a better president than I’ve been. Name me one. Name me one! So I don’t want to hear that crap!” he said.
As noted by Business Insider, Crow is a former Army Ranger who was awarded the Bronze Star for his service during the Iraq War.
Puck reported that a campaign source noted that Biden “also said he would drop if he saw data saying he can’t win. He’s about to see a lot of it. The next round of polls will probably be apocalyptic.”
