Senior advisor to President Joe Biden's presidential campaign Keisha Lance Bottoms called out a Georgia newspaper for criticizing the president's lackluster debate performance with former President Donald Trump.
On Sunday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran an op-ed titled "It's time for Biden to pass the torch," which called for the president's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race.
Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, discussed the article during a Monday interview with MSNBC's Chris Jansing.
“Let me just say I was very disappointed with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,” Bottoms said of the op-ed. “As we have talked about making sure that we’re protecting elections and making sure there’s no undue influence, this was undue influence by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, or an attempt to influence.”
The former Atlanta mayor said she believed voters should be able to decide who they wanted in the White House the same way they decide which candidate would receive their party's nomination. Top Biden campaign advisor Keisha Lance Bottoms accuses editorial boards of election interference for writing negative pieces about Biden pic.twitter.com/ed740GLrGD
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 1, 2024
Jansing pushed back by suggesting the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was simply doing their job by covering Biden's debate performance.
“Editorial boards are supposed to honor fair elections," Bottoms responded. "I don’t think it’s fair when an editorial board with ten people sitting in a room are trying to influence an election, especially in a state like Georgia where there’s already been discussions about influencing elections.”
“If you’re going to ask a candidate to step aside, let’s also look at Donald Trump’s record and all of the reasons, including his indictment in Fulton County, trying to influence the secretary of state, his convictions,” she added. “Let’s put them side-by-side. I’ll take a 90-minute bad night over the totality of Donald Trump’s presidency any day of the week.”
During CNN's post-debate analysis, the outlet ran chyrons indicating Democratic sources were concerned over Biden's lackluster performance.
Other politicians have thrown support behind Biden, including former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
"Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know." Obama wrote in an X post. "But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. "Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit."
"Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November," Obama added.
Clinton said he would leave debate recaps to pundits, though said "facts and history matter."
"Joe Biden has given us 3 years of solid leadership, steadying us after the pandemic, creating a record number of new jobs, making real progress solving the climate crisis, and launching a successful effort in reducing inflation, all while pulling us out of the quagmire Donald Trump left us in," Clinton wrote.
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman also took issue with calls for Biden's withdrawal from the race in a series of X posts.
