While the former president won’t appear on ballots this November, three key figures from his administration are seeking gubernatorial seats in what could serve as a measure of his political influence two years after departing office amid declining approval ratings.
Two former Cabinet officials — ex-Interior Secretary Deb Haaland from New Mexico and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra from California — won their primary elections this week. They’re joined by Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former senior adviser, who claimed the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Georgia last month.
These campaigns unfold as tensions flare among the former president’s supporters, including former White House staff, regarding the Biden family’s return to public attention just months before crucial midterm elections. The former president’s son has been active on social media engaging with both supporters and detractors, while the former first lady discusses the previous presidential campaign in her new book. The former president also plans to release his own memoir later this year.
Whether these White House connections will benefit or damage the Democratic candidates remains uncertain as they transition to general election campaigns.
“I will put my experience to work for the people of our state,” Haaland declared to enthusiastic supporters while accepting her party’s nomination.
However, she omitted any reference to the former president while outlining her background as a single mother, congressional service, and Interior Department leadership.
Former White House staffer Rodericka Applewhaite indicated that some Democrats running this fall are deliberately avoiding requests for campaign assistance from the former president.
Applewhaite has joined other Democratic strategists in publicly criticizing the Biden family’s recent public appearances, particularly the former first lady’s book promotional tour.
“The Bidens are burning a lot of good will that they built up over a very long time in what seems to be days,” she stated, directing a sharp recommendation to the former president and his family. “Step aside and let us have the battles that we need to have today.”
Across California, Georgia and New Mexico, former Biden administration members are handling their White House associations differently.
While Haaland and Becerra emphasize President Donald Trump in their campaign messaging, neither mentioned the former president in their primary victory addresses. Their official campaign websites also exclude his name from their biographical sections.
The former president didn’t publicly endorse candidates in New Mexico or California before Tuesday’s primaries. Democrats have concentrated on attacking Republicans regarding Trump’s presidential tenure.
“It’s laughable that Republicans have become so desperate to avoid talking about Donald Trump that they are now trying to go after our candidates for advocating for their states and getting results when they served in the executive branch,” stated Kevin Donohue, a spokesperson for the Democratic Governors Association. He said Democrats “are focused on affordability” while “Republicans are all in on Trump’s cost-raising agenda.”
Republicans aren’t deterred from emphasizing both candidates’ former supervisor.
Republican strategists plan to highlight Democrats’ Biden administration connections as vulnerabilities in coming weeks, according to Kollin Crompton of the Republican Governors Association.
“Deb Haaland turned her back on New Mexico to push Biden’s failed policies and the Green New Scam. New Mexico deserves a leader, not a career politician who forgot where she came from,” Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, who leads the campaign organization, declared.
Georgia presents a different scenario.
Lance Bottoms features her Biden administration service on her campaign website. She sought and obtained his formal endorsement before Georgia’s primary, sharing it extensively across her campaign’s social media channels. She also expressed willingness to have the former president campaign alongside her this fall. “As I am moving around this state, people are missing Joe Biden more and more each day,” she told CNN.
Bottoms became the first of two candidates the former president has endorsed since leaving office, and he contacted her with congratulations following her May 19 primary victory.
Yet even Bottoms hasn’t emphasized her administration tenure during campaign events. Her standard speech references her mayoral service in Atlanta and prosecutorial background before shifting to topics like affordability and Trump administration policies.
“I spoke with him this morning, so he called to congratulate me,” Bottoms said regarding the former president after her primary win. She then quickly changed subjects. “At the end of the day, we all want the same things. We want to live in great neighborhoods, we want great schools, we want access to health care.”
Public opinion polling showed Americans held less favorable views of the former president’s tenure when he left office compared to the conclusions of Trump’s first term or Barack Obama’s second presidency, according to The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Approximately one-quarter of American adults described him as a “good” or “great” president at that time, with fewer than one in ten considering him “great.”
This data highlighted how damaged his legacy had become, with many from his own party viewing his Democratic presidency as simply adequate.
Americans showed similar likelihood to characterize both him and Trump as “poor” or “terrible” — roughly half applied these descriptions to each president’s service — but about three in ten called the former president “average,” while fewer than two in ten said this about Trump.
The Biden family has encountered renewed examination recently, sometimes from former staff members.
The former president’s son faced criticism for recently appearing on a podcast hosted by far-right conspiracy theorist Candace Owens. He has drawn attention through online posts about his addiction struggles and media critiques.
Former first lady Jill Biden has surprised some Democrats with remarks made during promotional events for her memoir, “View from the East Wing,” released Tuesday. She told CBS News she felt “frightened” by her husband’s performance during the notable debate against Trump. The aftermath ultimately led to his withdrawal from the race.
In her book, she reveals that his senior staff “insisted he needed to run” for reelection. The memoir recounts her husband’s decision to end his candidacy and the family’s response to the former president’s cancer diagnosis last year.
During her book tour, she has fielded difficult questions about the former president’s health and mental capabilities while in office, plus her influence in encouraging his reelection bid despite widespread public doubts.
She called it “heartbreaking” that the Democratic Party turned away from her husband during an appearance on ABC’s “The View.”
“That’s why Joe had to decide to get out, because he had lost the support of the Democratic Party,” she explained.
These statements have triggered disputes among supporters, particularly after former Biden spokesperson Andrew Bates questioned to the New York Post “why that painful conversation for the party needed to be publicly re-opened now.”
The former first lady responded sharply, “I want to say to Andrew, call me up and say it to my face.”
