Biden facing intense scrutiny as campaign ramps up unscripted events

President Joe Biden’s team has telegraphed a strategy to put the president forth for more casual, unscripted events and an accelerated public schedule as he seeks to shift the narrative away from his poor debate performance. But Biden is now under intense scrutiny at this critical moment for his political future – with heightened attention on every verbal slip, diversion, and moment of confusion, and questions about whether that strategy will have its intended outcome.

President Joe Biden’s team has telegraphed a strategy to put the president forth for more casual, unscripted events and an accelerated public schedule as he seeks to shift the narrative away from his poor debate performance. But Biden is now under intense scrutiny at this critical moment for his political future — with heightened attention on every verbal slip, diversion, and moment of confusion, and questions about whether that strategy will have its intended outcome. As a growing number of elected officials, Democratic donors and supporters express deep concerns about Biden’s age and capacity to serve a second term as president, aides have acknowledged that the stakes for Biden’s one-on-one interview Friday with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos could not be higher. Biden is also expected to hold a press conference next week during the NATO summit. But before that, and even before last Thursday’s presidential debate, Biden’s delivery has been halting at times, and close observers of the president have noted that his speech and delivery have lost some pacing, crispness and focus in the years since he took office. In a radio interview taped Wednesday that aired Thursday, Biden made some verbal missteps. “I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president — first Black woman — to serve with a Black president, proud to have been involved with the first Black woman on the Supreme Court,” he said during an appearance with Andrea Lawful-Sanders of “The Source” in Philadelphia. Reached for comment Thursday night, a Biden campaign spokesperson slammed the “absurdity” of criticism of the president’s missteps.