President Biden’s reelection campaign co-Chair Mitch Landrieu called the critical Wall Street Journal report about the president’s performance that sparked pushback from White House officials and Biden allies a “hit job.”
“You have been to the White House. You have talked to the president. You all saw the president today. I can personally attest to this; I have worked there two years with him. I have been in many, many meetings with him. I thought that was a hit job,” Landrieu told Fox News host Bret Baier on Thursday’s “Special Report.”
Landrieu, who worked as the infrastructure czar before leaving for the Biden campaign, added that the article, which was headlined “Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Slipping,” didn’t reflect the Biden that he knows.
“I think he’s fit as a fiddle. He’s ready to go. He demonstrates that all the time. You will remember people kind of had him with one foot in the grave, and then he came out and he did the State of the Union address. You saw the president address the world today,” Landrieu said, referring to Biden’s speech from Normandy, France.
Landrieu also said Biden is “fine and he’s ready to go,” noting that former President Trump, 77, is less than four years younger than the 81-year-old Biden.
Democrats have rallied to Biden’s defense and taken issue with key parts of the Journal report, which included interviews with 45 people over several months. They’ve blasted the newspaper for largely citing the accounts of Republican officials who had spent time with the president, including former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Calif.).
Biden’s campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, told reporters earlier this week that the president is “one of the strongest leaders” when questioned on the story.
The hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” also criticized the story as a hit piece, with Joe Scarborough arguing its reporting is “not close.”
Updated at 9:31 a.m. EDT