Michael LaRosa, who previously served as First Lady Jill Biden’s spokesman, told Breitbart News that any serious discussion about President Joe Biden stepping aside for another Democrat candidate would likely have to come from congressional leaders. His comments follow Biden’s troubling debate performance, which has led to panic among Democrats about his reelection chances.
LaRosa underscored the solidarity within the Biden family, explaining that Jill Biden would not push for the President to step down. “She would never be comfortable with a weighty decision like saying, ‘Joe, you have to, you know, step aside,’” LaRosa stated, emphasizing that such a decision would need to come from figures like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
He suggested that a significant drop in support for Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) in the upcoming Senate race could prompt action from Schumer. “If it even slightly appears that Casey could be in peril, we will see a reaction from this master of Senate strategy,” LaRosa noted in a post on X.
Casey, who has a strong track record of outperforming the top of the ticket, is seen as a bellwether. If his numbers decline due to Biden’s position, it might signal broader issues for down-ballot Democrats. Republican Dave McCormick has already linked Casey to Biden, asserting that Casey’s support for Biden is misplaced given the President’s recent performance.
Despite his support for Biden, LaRosa criticized the campaign’s strategy of limiting Biden’s public appearances. He argued that more frequent engagements would help normalize occasional mistakes and make poor performances seem like isolated incidents. “The more he is out there, yes, the more mistakes he’ll make, but the more conditioned over time people will be to see him,” LaRosa explained.
LaRosa concluded that the campaign’s strategy has led to a credibility crisis, noting that consistent public exposure would have made Biden’s recent debate performance appear as just one bad night among many successful engagements.
