According to a report, President Biden’s aides give him instructions in large letters and photos of the interior of the venue and his planned route inside, ahead of events the 81-year-old commander in chief is attending.
Documents obtained by Axios on Sunday show how aides helped guide Biden — including his specific path to a podium — when he appeared at rallies. The report comes as the Democrat faces relentless questions about whether he’s fit for the Oval Office after a dreadful debate performance last month against presumptive GOP opponent, former President Donald Trump.
“It surprised me that a seasoned political professional like the president would need detailed verbal and visual instructions on how to get in and out of a room,” one person who has staffed a Biden event in the past 18 months told the outlet.
“I supervised a simple fundraiser at a private home, but they treated it like a NATO summit with its movements,” the unnamed employee also said.
According to Axios, the White House is sending event staff a template to follow when preparing their own guidelines for the president, as part of what’s known as “prep work.”
One template would show a large photo of the event space on each page with large text such as “View from Stage” and “View from Audience.” Two pages also showed separate photos with “Walk to Stage” next to the photos.
But a White House spokesperson downplayed the instructions, telling Axios that “high levels of detail and precision are critical to the work of the presidential advance team — regardless of who the president is — and these are basic approaches used by every modern advance team, including the vice president’s office and the agencies.”
A spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed the Biden official’s claim in a statement to the media.
“These documents are standard logistics briefing materials and photos for every director, including the vice president,” the vice president’s spokesperson said.
The revelation comes on the same day that several top Democrats in the House of Representatives called on Biden to abandon his re-election bid during a private call with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, according to multiple reports.
While a handful of House Democrats have expressed concerns about continuing the race with Biden as the lead candidate, the octogenarian is adamant that he has no plans to withdraw from the race.