Michael LaRosa, former communications director for former First Lady Jill Biden, sharply criticizes former US President Joe Biden's recent appearances and warns they are damaging the party, while the 82-year-old former president continues to struggle with public missteps, including confusion in his speeches and dropping dessert during an event.
Democratic party officials warn that his return to the public arena provides a "gift" to the Trump administration and diverts attention from criticism of the current president's tariff policies. Biden's return to the spotlight is provoking anger among senior Democratic party officials, including senior aides, who claim his presence only reopens old wounds.
After maintaining a low profile recently, Biden reappeared Tuesday in a speech against US President Donald Trump in Chicago, followed by a private appearance at the Kennedy School at Harvard University. But the reaction within the Democratic party was overwhelmingly negative, with activists, strategists, and Biden loyalists expressing alarm that his appearance came at the worst possible timing, according to reporting on The Hill.
La Rosa emphasized that while he holds great affection for the Bidens, staff loyalty carries with it an obligation to provide candid feedback about their public standing, regardless of how difficult that truth might be to deliver.
While speaking at Harvard, Biden needed correction from his longtime advisor, Mike Donilon, when he confused Ukraine with Iraq while discussing the war with Russia, as reported in the Harvard Crimson. After the 82-year-old former president took a bite of an ice cream bar at the event, the partially eaten dessert fell to the floor, the Crimson noted. "It was hard to watch," a former White House official told The New York Post about the speech.
"It felt like seeing someone you care about start to regress. We just wanted him to enjoy retirement like other presidents — not go out like this," the official said. The confusion only added to the Trump administration's attempts to use Biden's appearance as a distraction from the recent controversy over tariffs, LaRosa said.
LaRosa expressed regret that those managing Biden's public affairs have yet to acknowledge the conclusion of his time in politics and make decisions reflecting this reality. "It's a heartbreaking and tragic ending to their time in public life, but it's also the truth, and they should index the political realities into their decision-making," the former aide said.
