Embattled President Biden opened up a meeting with a group of Democratic US representatives by challenging them to ask him “hard questions” about his candidacy and his fitness to serve — only to jump down the throat of a member who sought reassurance about the 81-year-old’s ability to serve as a strong commander-in-chief. His loss of temper and ill-preparedness for the meeting reportedly did nothing to bolster his audience’s confidence. 

That audience for the Saturday video conference call was the New Democrat Coalition, a group comprising some 100 centrist Democrats. While the group’s chairwoman, New Hampshire Rep. Anne McLane Kuster, politely characterized the conversation as “candid, respectful and productive,” members speaking to reporters anonymously were far less charitable about Biden’s performance.

BIDEN: “If I slow down, I can’t get the job done, that’s a sign that I shouldn’t be doing it. But there’s no indication of that yet! None!”

*unable to read list* pic.twitter.com/6D4KoWtyOz

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 11, 2024

“That was a complete disaster. We saw the same Joe Biden from the debate,” one of the House reps on the roughly 30-minute, late-afternoon call told Axios. Another said the call was “awful,” while a third said “members were not holding back.”

Another source who was on the call told The Hill it was “tense.” That tension hit a crescendo when Colorado Rep. Jason Crow told Biden that, from a national security perspective, voters were uneasy about Biden being “at the helm when they go to sleep at night.” 

“Biden ripped him…the exchange was hard to watch,” The Hill’s source said. According to three sources who spoke to Politico, Biden raised his voice and said, “I don’t want to hear that crap!” before forcefully touting his foreign policy record, citing — as he incessantly does now — his role in expanding NATO, an undertaking that does nothing to increase US security. 

“He started shouting at Jason Crow for no reason,” a member said. Undaunted by Biden’s rebuke, Crow — a former Army Ranger — told Biden his accomplishments weren’t persuading voters who have doubts about his ability to serve another term. 

Rep. Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger who represent’s Colorado’s 6th Congressional district, previously blasted Biden for the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle (Jason Connolly/AFP/Getty Images via Axios)

The Hill’s source said members were “really dismayed” by overall Biden’s performance, saying he seemed unprepared to handle the questions that everyone is asking about him since his disastrous June 27 debate performance. As he is prone to do, Biden was said to have given rambling answers — offering just another confirmation of his declining mental strength. 

One lawmaker summed it up with this blistering report card:

“He had no answer to questions about his electability. He seemed oblivious to the polling that shows him losing swing states. He didn’t want to hear it … He didn’t try to reassure anyone. He took no responsibility.”

Multiple reps were queued up to ask questions, but Biden said he had to leave to attend mass near his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware home. Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley was said to be “visibly not happy that he was not going to be able to ask a question.” 

Earlier in the day, Biden had a much longer and more harmonious call with progressive Democrats, who’ve emerged as his staunchest defenders. In a Saturday op-ed at the New York Times, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called on Democrats to stop “bickering and nit-picking,” calling Biden “the most effective president in the modern history of our country and…the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump.”  

BIDEN: “Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin” 😳 pic.twitter.com/pId2QZ3Ao0

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 11, 2024

Saturday’s attempted assassination of President Trump, which came within an hour of the conference call’s conclusion, is certain to galvanize his support. At the same time, it’s had the effect of at least temporarily erasing Biden’s mental-fitness controversy from news headlines.

With insurgent forces growing in the Democratic ranks, the reprieve will likely prove short-lived. The New Democrat Coalition could end it: One rep on Biden’s call said the group is considering a joint letter urging Biden to quit the race, and that his bad Saturday meeting “probably” increased the odds that they’ll do so. Given the group’s large size, that would make big waves, as it could cause the total number of Democratic House reps opposing Biden’s campaign to grow by several multiples all at once.