Biden Campaign Spox Repeats the Same Answer to Every Question for 5 Minutes

HILL: “With me now, Biden campaign senior advisor and spokesperson, Adrienne Elrod. Adrienne, good to see you this morning. There is some hope among Democrats that this ruling will, in fact, light a fire under voters, or at the very least distract them from last week‘s debate. Realistically here, what can the president do? What would he do in a second term? Would he push to expand the Supreme Court?”
ELROD: “Well, I certainly don‘t want to get in front of the president‘s own words on that. But I think you hit the nail on the head, Erica. This is a truly terrifying moment that we‘re seeing in America, that a president of the United States can effectively have immunity on a number of fronts. We are seeing the Supreme Court, which Donald Trump put three conservative justices on the court, which are ruling on a lot of these decisions, in a favor that is not congruent with where the American people stand. We‘re constantly seeing 6-3 rulings on this court. And it‘s important to note, Erica, that the next president the United States could pick two more Supreme Court justices on this court. There‘s a lot at stake. And, you know, when you‘re looking at the contrast in this election, you saw President Biden from the White House tonight really laying — or last night, laying out to the American people what‘s at stake, what this ruling could mean, how dangerous it is, especially if Donald Trump comes back into the White House, you know, what he could do with this type of immunity, it‘s truly terrifying. And again, this is a reason why President Biden is running for re-election. He‘s the only person who beat Donald Trump. He‘s built a broad coalition that is necessary to beat him again. And it‘s critically important that the American people understand what the contrast is and what‘s at stake.”
HILL: “For the American people, for a number of people, there are still concerns on the heels of last week’s CNN debate, about the president‘s mental fitness. In fact, we‘re also hearing from lawmakers more now. Congressman Mike Quigley, when asked this morning if the president should step aside, said very clearly it needs to be Joe Biden‘s decision, but he followed up with this. Take a listen.”

[Clip starts]
QUIGLEY: “We have to be honest with ourselves that it wasn‘t just a horrible night. But I won‘t go beyond that out of my respect and understanding President Joe Biden, a very proud person who has served us extraordinarily well for 50 years. But it‘s his decision. I just want him to approve appreciate at this time just how much it impacts, not just his race, but all the other races coming in November.”
[Clip ends]

HILL: “Congressman Quigley concerned about the impact there on down-ballot races, but it also sounds like he is very clearly concerned that this was not, as many in Biden world have claimed, this was not just one night, Adrienne.”
ELROD: “Yeah. Well, a couple of things. First of all, you heard President Biden say in North Carolina, at a rousing rally on Friday, that he’s not as good as a debater as he once was. He made that very clear. But he also said he tells the truth, and then he laid into all the lies that Donald Trump said on that debate stage. And Erica, we put out information that you may have seen over the weekend, showing that our own data shows that a lot of independent voters had major concerns about the lies that Donald Trump said on that stage, lying about January 6, lying about women‘s reproductive health, lying about being a dictator on day one, which he‘s made very clear he would do if he gets back into the White House. So, a lot of our voters that we saw in our data have major concerns about Donald Trump. We also put out a polling out yesterday from our chief pollster, Geoff Karen, making it clear that the polls that we see internally are essentially the same. We don‘t really get into the horse race here, but we do want to make sure that the American people know what is at stake in this election, understand how dangerous it would be for Donald Trump to get back to the White House. And look, I also want to make it clear, I said this earlier, Joe Biden is the only person, President Joe Biden is the only person who defeated Donald Trump. He‘s the only person who can defeat him again, because the broad coalition that he‘s built on this campaign and that continues to remain intact, he has people Senator Sanders, AOC, who are very supportive, and then you‘ve got conservatives like Adam Kinzinger, who just endorsed us, and Geoff Duncan, former lieutenant governor from Georgia. So, we are the ones who have built this robust coalition. This is a coalition that is going to stay intact and make sure that Donald Trump is defeated in November.”
HILL: “There are still, though, questions, and I‘m going to keep asking just because we know the questions are out there. And specifically, you talk about lawmakers. You also have Democratic Senator Peter Welch of Vermont, who says that the campaign has had what he calls a dismissive attitude toward people who are raising questions about the president‘s mental acuity and his fitness for a second term. Are there actual discussions that are happening with the people who are raising the concerns, because it is the voters raising concerns, but it‘s also more and more we‘re seeing lawmakers?”
ELROD: “No, there are no discussions. President Biden is staying in this race — “
HILL: “So this is not being addressed at all — “
ELROD: “ — he is running as a Democratic nominee and he will continue to be. But what I will tell you is, he‘s gone on the phone, he of course wants to make sure that lawmakers are reassured, that governors and mayors are reassured across the country, so he‘s been on the phone having these conversations, and we on the campaign are moving full speed ahead, making sure that the American people understand what is it stake, how dangerous it would be if somebody who wants to rule as a dictator on day one, is someone who has said, if he loses this election, there‘ll be a bloodbath, somebody who has stripped away the rights of millions of women across this country when it comes to their reproductive health, somebody who is going to stifle our freedoms and our rights if he becomes president again, that person is Donald Trump. And we are making sure, on this campaign, and President Biden is making sure that Americans understand what‘s at stake.”