Despite debate struggles, NC Democrats say they still back Biden

As President Joe Biden arrived in North Carolina to rally supporters Friday, North Carolina Democrats said they’re standing by their candidate as he fends off criticism over a poor debate performance against Republican former President Donald Trump.

Several calls and emails to more than a dozen local and state Democratic leaders, donors and strategists by reporters at The News & Observer went unanswered Friday as Biden prepared to take the stage in Raleigh.

U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson, for example, who is running for North Carolina attorney general, had no comment when his campaign was reached by a reporter Friday.

But many who did speak with The N&O throughout the day said the president’s performance did not shake their faith in his ability to lead. And a mix of Democratic leaders on the state and local level appeared alongside the president as he arrived in North Carolina and — like Attorney General Josh Stein and Gov. Roy Cooper — were in the crowd or rallied the audience in advance of the speech.

Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue and a gaggle of mayors, city council members and county commissioners were among the supporters when the Bidens arrived at Raleigh-Durham International Airport just before 2 a.m. Friday.

Several drew a sharp contrast between his appearance in the pre-dawn hours with that of his debate performance just hours before.

“It was like night and day,” Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams told The N&O in a phone interview Friday. “The energy he had on the Tarmac, the energy he had at the watch parties is the energy I wish he had on stage.”

Raleigh Mayor Pro Tem Jonathan Melton was among the first to greet the president at the airport. He said Biden was “energetic and engaged” and spent around 30 minutes talking with supporters.

“He did not look like someone who was tired,” Melton said. “I felt and probably looked more tired than he did.”

Debate left supporters wanting

Melton acknowledged that the debate was not Biden’s best performance and that he got off to a particularly “slow start.”

“But I think the content of his answers was good,” Melton said. “You can tell he cares about the American people, he cares about his job and he has a clear vision for what the next four years will look like.”

He contrasted the president’s performance with Trump’s, which he characterized as mostly “lies and gaslighting.”

Democratic Charlotte City Councilman Malcolm Graham offered a blunt assessment of Biden’s debate performance, saying the president “did not perform very well.”

“Our candidate picked the wrong day to have a bad day,” said Graham, who has campaigned for Biden this election cycle.

Melton, citing post-debate comments from Vice President Kamala Harris, said he agreed with her that it’s important to look outside the 90-minute debate to what Biden has accomplished in his three and a half years in office.

“I would hope that any undecided voters would be taking into account the entire term of his presidency, which has been really very effective‚ particularly considering the mess he was handed when he started,” Melton said.

Adrian Maldonado, the first vice chair of the state Democratic Party Hispanic American Caucus, said he’s been a big supporter of Biden throughout his entire campaign, especially because of Biden’s outreach to the Latino community.

Maldonado, who attended Friday’s rally, said Biden has expanded the Affordable Care Act to include DACA recipients, ensuring they have access to affordable and quality health care. He said the administration’s focus on the economy is something the Latino community is very proud of and has benefited greatly from.

“The Biden-Harris administration has also increased our support for small businesses, while also lowering health care costs,” Maldonado said. “[He’s brought] more funding for students and efforts to address gun violence, which disproportionately affects the Hispanic communities.”

Replace Biden? Supporters say ‘no’

Melton dismissed criticisms of the president’s age. Given that his opponent is just three years younger, the age difference is “splitting hairs.” What’s more important, he said, is the candidates’ character and where they stand on the issues.

“The fact that Donald Trump would not disavow Jan. 6, the fact that he would not give a clear answer on women’s rights to health care, he wouldn’t give a clear answer on child care — these are really important issues to voters,” Melton said. “Donald Trump has shown us where he stands, and it’s not with the American people.”

Maldonado said the Latino community was among the most directly threatened by government policies during Trump’s term.

“[Trump’s] administration was marked by vicious anti-worker, anti-Latino rhetoric that undermined our dignity,” Maldonado said, noting that Hispanic voters are key to any path to the White House. “The stakes are much higher now, more than ever.”

Biden drew a sharp contrast between his record and Trump’s, said Rep. Allen Buansi, a Chapel Hill Democrat. Biden defended his support for abortion access and working families, Buansi said, while Trump failed to clearly state that he would accept the results of November’s election.

Still, much of the focus last night and into today has been on Biden’s appearance and patterns of speech, rather than substance, he said. Buansi said he wants to see what polling will say about how that impacted voters’ perception of Biden.

“I want to just wait to see what folks think,” Buansi said. “We do have another five months before the election, which is a long time.”

Durham Mayor Williams told The N&O he remains committed to Biden’s campaign, despite calls for him to step aside. And he summed up the debate as “a binary of fact versus foolery.”

“There’s been a lot of noise and chatter about Biden’s fitness for office. I don’t think that’s helpful,” Williams said. “The real story is what is good and not good for the American people.”

Referencing Trump’s recent trial in New York over hush money payments to an adult film star, Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin told The N&O by phone from the rally that voters face a critical decision in November.

“We have a convicted felon running for president. He opposes women’s reproductive rights. And he lies about everything,” Baldwin said. “We have one clear choice: Joe Biden.”

Graham, too, said he’s still firmly behind Biden after seeing Trump’s performance in the debate. The stakes haven’t changed, the former state senator said, and “democracy is definitely on the ballot.”

Melton said he does believe the Democratic Party needs to cultivate new leadership — and that people his age should step forward.

One of those young candidates — former Charlotte mayor pro tem and current Democratic nominee for labor commissioner Braxton Winston — took to social media Friday to seemingly address reports of Democrats considering replacing Biden on the ticket.

”If anyone should drop out it’s the guy who fomented an insurrection against the US Congress,” Winston wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

As for the need for Democrats to build a deeper bench, Melton said, “that’s not the issue for today.”

“I think the most important aspect of this election is ensuring that Donald Trump does not return to the White House,” Melton said. “President Biden has beaten him once. I believe he can beat him again.”

As voters weigh choices, Republicans react

How Biden will fare in North Carolina, though, remains to be seen.

North Carolina’s voters have shown a willingness to split their tickets down ballot, Buansi noted. In both 2016 and 2020, for example, Donald Trump won the presidential race in the state while Roy Cooper, a Democrat, won the gubernatorial race.

“North Carolina voters have a record of distinguishing between what’s going on nationally and what’s going on in the state,” Buansi said.

Dan McCorkle, a longtime Democratic strategist in the Charlotte area, said Biden could benefit from Thursday’s debate falling in June, relatively early in the election cycle.

”It’s vacation time, it’s reset time for most people,” he said, noting past winning candidates such as Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama overcame “losing” debates closer to Election Day.

McCorkle said the Biden campaign’s investments in organizing and advertising in North Carolina could outweigh the impacts of the president’s debate performance. ”Campaigns win elections, not individual events,” he said.

Biden could also benefit from “reverse coattails” from a strong slate of Democratic statewide candidates in North Carolina, according to McCorkle.

The veteran campaign manager said his advice would be for candidates to stick to talking about issues, including access to reproductive health care and voting rights.

”I always tell local candidates, we can’t control what happens federally or in Idaho, so focus on winning Mecklenburg County, which is a vast Democratic area and will continue to be,” he said.

North Carolina Republicans, meanwhile, seized the opportunity to intensify criticism of the president.

In a post on X, GOP Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson bashed his gubernatorial opponent’s backing of Biden.

“After last nights debate, how can he still support a man who is so clearly unfit to be commander-in-chief?” Robinson posted, accompanied by an image of Stein at the podium.

Fellow Republicans echoed that message throughout the day.

“America saw the real Joe Biden last night: a weak, failed, dishonest man who has no business leading our country for the next four months, let alone the next four years,” NC GOP spokesperson Matt Mercer said in a statement. “Today in Raleigh, Democrats must confront the fact their nominee for president is wrong on policy, wrong on facts, and simply the wrong choice for a strong America.”

Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, who formerly chaired the state party, said in a statement that Biden’s “weak performance” at the debate means he has no chance of winning the Tar Heel State.

“And a rally won’t repair the damage done to his flailing campaign on the world stage,” Whatley said in a statement. “The entire country, including my home state, knows that President Trump is the best candidate whose America First policies will make us great again.”

The N&O’s Danielle Battaglia and Avi Bajpai contributed reporting.