Democrats take aim at Biden after his media comeback: "Not helpful to the brand"

A few days after Donald Trump marked 100 days since his return to the White House, Joe Biden began his public comeback tour. The former Democratic president went from near-silence to giving speeches and interviews, capping the week with an appearance on The View.  However, within the Democratic Party, his media comeback seems to generate more headaches than anything else.

Biden, who stepped down from the presidency on January 20, opted for a low profile until April 16, when he delivered a brief speech at the ACRD Convention in Chicago. According to Politico, he hired Chris Meagher, former Defense Department spokesman, to help him manage his post-presidential communications.

Precisely, Meagher was instrumental in securing Biden's interview on The View, an interview that coincidentally seemed to delight Republicans and anger Democrats.

"Every time Joe Biden shows up, we fight an old war."

Among other things, Biden defended his legacy, attacked Trump, and tried to explain the last 12 months of his presidency, particularly his decision to step down so late in the election cycle. In turn, one of the most viral moments was when he failed to articulate an answer about his state of health during the final part of his term, to which his wife, Jill, stepped in to round out the idea.

In this context, Democratic commentators and analysts came out to cross the former president, accusing him of not being useful for the Democratic brand for the future.

One of the sharpest was Chuck Todd, NBC News analyst and host of the popular program Meet the Press. Specifically, he accused Biden of putting his figure ahead of party interests.

"If you're a party man, you care about your party before yourself. And it’s pretty clear the Bidens were always much more focused on themselves than the party," he told host Leland Vittert of NewsNation.

He was joined by Democratic strategist Anthony Coley, who also worked for the Biden White House. As he told The Hill, Biden's media resurgence could end up helping President Trump by contrast.

"Elections are about the future. Every time Joe Biden emerges, we fight an old war. Every interview he does provides a contrast to Trump that’s just not helpful for the Democratic brand, which needs trusted messengers and fighters who can reach independents and moderates and inspire the base. Joe Biden ain’t that," he noted.

"Why can't he publicly acknowledge that some of this is his fault?"

Beyond the criticism he received, other analysts refused to weigh in on his appearance and instead went against the content of the interviews he conducted in recent days.

According to a Democratic strategist who spoke to The Hill on condition of anonymity, the former president needs to stop spinning, take "responsibility for his actions," and "recognize the fact that he caused the defeat of the Democrats."

"I don’t think there’s a willingness to cop to the fact that he should never have run again in the first place. Why can’t he come out and acknowledge that part of this is on him?" he continued.

Different is the approach of Steve Schale, a longtime Biden ally, who suggested that he start small to clean up his image, emulating the path laid out by Jimmy Carter: "There is a way for President Biden to build his postpresidency, but this isn’t it. I really wish he’d embrace the thing that’s been his calling card for 50 years: his humanity."

In other words, he recommended that he get out of the public eye and start walking the streets, interacting with citizens, making sure that the first thing people remember is that and not his time in the White House.

"By the end of his life, we were reminded of the decent and humble nature of the man thanks to his acts, not his words. I really wish Biden would follow a similar path," she sentenced.

Pod Save America's disclaimer: get rid of the Biden brand

Jon Favreau, former speechwriter during the Obama administration and current host of Pod Save America, called on Democrats with aspirations for 2028 to detach themselves as much as possible from the former president.

In a recent podcast, he sharply criticized Biden for damaging the party during the last election cycle: "The answer is, he shouldn’t have run for a second term. And when he did run for a second term, he should have stepped down much earlier after the debate, and his close advisers shouldn’t have told him to run again, and they shouldn’t have told him he was going to win."

"I think that every Democratic politician, particularly those who want to lead the party and want to run in 2028, has to just rip the fu**ing Band-Aid off," added Favreau, who drafted Obama's 2009 inaugural address.