Top Democrats hold conference call on Biden situation, creating anger, frustration and resignation

There is a growing concern among the top leaders of the Democratic Party over what they can and should do about Joe Biden and his campaign following the widely panned debate performance on CNN Thursday.

DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison and Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez hosted a conference call on Saturday with some of the most influential members of the party, including dozens of committee members across the country, according to The Associated Press.

Many of the committee members, who spoke off the record to the AP, said they felt like they were being gaslighted. They said that Biden’s debate performance was largely ignored, including the predicament that created for the party. They said the call may have increased the “widespread sense of panic among elected officials, donors and other stakeholders.”

One who spoke on the record was Joe Salazar, an elected DNC member from Colorado: "I was hoping for more of a substantive conversation instead of, 'Hey, let's go out there and just be cheerleaders,' without actually addressing a very serious issue that unfolded on American television for millions of people to see," said Salazar. "There were a number of things that could have been said in addressing the situation. But we didn't get that. We were being gaslit."

DNC Chairman Harrison downplayed the significance of the conference call later on MSNBC. He said it was part of a regularly scheduled communication "to talk about the state of the race" and the upcoming convention with many of the DNC's elected members.

Also on Saturday, former Obama White House adviser David Axelrod said that the time had passed when it was appropriate to have this discussion, according to The Hill.  

“Reality check: @JoeBiden is the nominee of the Democratic Party, nominated by voters in primaries across the country,” Axelrod wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Unless the @POTUS, himself, decides to quit — which he won’t — that issue is settled.”