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A sense of concern is growing inside the top ranks of the Democratic Party that leaders of Joe Biden\u2019s campaign and the Democratic National Committee are not taking seriously enough the impact of the\u00a0president\u2019s troubling debate performance<\/a>\u00a0earlier in the week.<\/p>\n DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison and Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez held a Saturday afternoon call with dozens of committee members across the country, a group of some of the most influential members of the party. They largely ignored\u00a0Biden\u2019s weak showing Thursday night<\/a>\u00a0or the avalanche of criticism that followed.<\/p>\n Multiple committee members on the call, most granted anonymity to talk about the private discussion, described feeling like they were being gaslighted \u2014 that they were being asked to ignore the dire nature of the party\u2019s predicament. The call, they said, may have worsened a widespread sense of panic among elected officials, donors and other stakeholders.<\/p>\n Instead, the people said, Harrison offered what they described as a rosy assessment of Biden\u2019s path forward. The chat function was disabled and there were no questions allowed.<\/p>\n \u201cI was hoping for more of a substantive conversation instead of, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s go out there and just be cheerleaders,\u2019 without actually addressing a very serious issue that unfolded on American television for millions of people to see,\u201d said Joe Salazar, an elected DNC member from Colorado, who was on the call. \u201cThere were a number of things that could have been said in addressing the situation. But we didn\u2019t get that. We were being gaslit.\u201d<\/p>\n Many donors, party strategists and rank-and-file DNC members are publicly and privately saying they want the 81-year-old Biden to step aside to allow the party to select a younger replacement at the Democratic National Convention in August. As of now, though, Biden\u2019s closest allies insist he remains well-positioned to compete against\u00a0Republican Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0and have given no indication they will push him to end his campaign.<\/p>\n Those best positioned to replace him \u2014 Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer among them \u2014 reiterated their support for Biden after the debate.<\/p>\n Many are anxiously awaiting the first major round of post-debate public polling to determine their next steps.<\/p>\n Polls from CNN and 538\/Ipsos conducted soon after the debate found that most debate-watchers thought Trump outperformed Biden. But the two men\u2019s favorability ratings remained largely unchanged, just as they did in the\u00a0aftermath of Trump\u2019s conviction on charges in New York<\/a>\u00a0that he illegally participated in a hush money scheme to influence the 2016 election.<\/p>\n In a subsequent appearance on MSNBC, Harrison downplayed the significance of the conference call, which he said was part of a regularly scheduled communication \u201cto talk about the state of the race\u201d and the upcoming national convention with the DNC\u2019s many elected members across the country.<\/p>\n Biden and his campaign have sought to project confidence in the days since Thursday\u2019s debate in which the president, who already faced serious concerns about his physical and mental stamina, offered a performance punctuated by repeated stumbles, uncomfortable pauses, and a quiet speaking style that was often difficult to understand.<\/p>\n Just after Saturday\u2019s DNC call, the Biden campaign released a memo from senior adviser Jen O\u2019Malley Dillon insisting that the debate had no tangible impact on the election.<\/p>\n \u201cOn every metric that matters, data shows it did nothing to change the American people\u2019s perception, our supporters are more fired up than ever, and Donald Trump only reminded voters of why they fired him four years ago and failed to expand his appeal beyond his MAGA base,\u201d O\u2019Malley Dillon wrote.<\/p>\n She added, \u201cIf we do see changes in polling in the coming weeks, it will not be the first time that overblown media narratives have driven temporary dips in the polls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n