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President Joe Biden\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0family used a Sunday gathering at Camp David to urge him to stay in the race and keep fighting despite his dreadful debate performance, and some members criticized how his staff prepared him for the faceoff, according to four people familiar with the discussions.<\/p>\n Biden spent the day sequestered\u00a0with first lady Jill Biden<\/a>, his children and grandchildren. It was a previously scheduled trip to the presidential retreat in Maryland for a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz for the upcoming Democratic National Convention.<\/p>\n But the gathering was also an exercise in trying to figure out how to quell Democratic anxiety<\/a> that has exploded following Thursday\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n While his family was aware of how\u00a0poorly he performed<\/a>\u00a0against Donald Trump, they also continue to think he\u2019s the best person to beat the Republican presumptive nominee. They also believe he is capable of doing the job of president for another four years, according to the people who were not authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n Among the most vocal: Jill Biden\u00a0and son Hunter<\/a>, whom the president has long gone to for counsel and advice. Both believe the president shouldn\u2019t bow out when he\u2019s down, and believe that he can come back from what they see as one subpar performance. The family questioned how he was prepared for the debate by staff and wondered if they could have done something better, the people said.<\/p>\n Biden\u2019s campaign has spent the days since the debate<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 where he appeared raspy, trailed off, and at times gave convoluted answers \u2014 working to keep donors and surrogates on board as Democrats increasingly questioned whether he should stay in the race.<\/p>\n At this point in the delegate process, Biden would likely have to decide to drop out for there to be a new nominee. And the people he listens to most in the world \u2014 his wife and son \u2014 are telling him to stay in.<\/p>\n Even before the debate, the age of the 81-year-old Democratic president had been a\u00a0liability with voters<\/a>, and the prime-time faceoff appeared to reinforce the public\u2019s deep-seated concerns before perhaps the largest audience he will have in the four months until Election Day. CNN said more than 51 million people watched the debate.<\/p>\n While the president was huddled with his family, prominent Democrats rallied to deliver a public show of support for his campaign on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not believe that Joe Biden has a problem leading for the next four years,\u201d said one close ally, Democratic Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina. \u201cJoe Biden should continue to run on his record.\u201d<\/p>\n Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat and Baptist minister, said there had been \u201cmore than a few Sundays when I wish I had preached a better sermon,\u201d relating the experience to Biden\u2019s debate performance.<\/p>\n \u201cBut after the sermon was over, it was my job to embody the message, to show up for the people that I serve. And that\u2019s what Joe Biden has been doing his entire life,\u201d Warnock said. It was an echo of the message from other supporters that Biden had a bad debate, but a lifetime of good governance.<\/p>\n Warnock, like Clyburn and others, pivoted to Trump\u2019s\u00a0many falsehoods<\/a>\u00a0during the debate \u2014 lapses that Biden and the debate moderators often failed to fact check from the stage \u2014 including about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters, immigration and the outcome of the 2020 election.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever his mouth was moving, he was lying,\u201d Warnock said of Trump.<\/p>\n But concern simmered among some Democrats that Biden\u2019s campaign and the Democratic National Committee were not taking seriously enough the impact of the debate.<\/p>\n Former Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, who served for more than two decades with Biden in the Senate, called the debate \u201ca disaster from which Biden cannot recover.\u201d<\/p>\n Harkin suggested that Democratic senators in pivotal races and \u201cmaybe all incumbent Democratic Senators should pen a letter to Biden asking him to release his delegates and step aside so the convention can choose a new candidate,\u201d according to an email to supporters that was obtained by The Associated Press. It was first referenced in Iowa journalist Julie Gammack\u2019s column on Saturday, Iowa Potluck.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a perilous time, and is more important than the ego or desires of Joe Biden to stay as President,\u201d Harkin concluded.<\/p>\n Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., described \u201cvery honest, serious and rigorous conversations taking place at every level of our party \u2026 about what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n