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WASHINGTON — Former President Joe Biden has told some Democratic leaders he’ll raise funds, campaign and do anything else necessary for Democrats to recover lost ground as the Trump administration rolls back programs the party helped design, according to people close to him.
Biden privately met last month with the new Democratic National Committee chairman, Ken Martin, and offered to help as the party struggles to regain its viability amid polling that shows its popularity has been sinking, the people said.
So far, Biden’s overture seems to have fallen flat. Democrats find themselves adrift, casting about for a compelling messenger.
Whoever that is, it’s not Biden, many party activists and donors contend. He’s tethered to the 2024 defeat and, at 82, is a symbol more of the party’s past than its future, they argue.
“Who’s going to want Joe Biden back in the game?” said a major Biden supporter, speaking on condition of anonymity to talk candidly about him.
A spokesperson for the DNC didn’t provide a comment or make Martin available for an interview.
A new NBC News poll shows that the Democratic Party’s popularity has dropped to a record low. Only 27% of registered voters said they held positive views of the party — the lowest figure in the network’s polling dating to 1990.
Former first lady Jill Biden is also prepared to campaign and raise money for fellow Democrats as she and her husband settle into life back home in Delaware, a person close to her said.
“She recognizes that serving in the capacities that she served is an honor and it comes with responsibilities to the party. And she’s prepared to help in any way she can,” the person said.
Both Bidens are carving out post-presidential lives aside from the partisan political work they’ve volunteered to take on.
Each plans to write a book. As Biden develops a theme for his memoir, he has been consulting former senior administration officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and senior White House advisers Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti.
He has been splitting his time between Delaware and Washington for meetings in office space supplied by the federal government. As was his habit as a U.S. senator, he often commutes via Amtrak.
The onetime first couple were shocked when President Donald Trump abruptly announced this week that he was ending Secret Service protection for their two adult children, Hunter and Ashley, the person close to Jill Biden said. They’d gotten no warning, another person familiar with the matter said. Their first question was whether their two children would be safe.
The Bidens have been out of office for only two months. After Trump’s first term ended in 2021, then-President Biden extended protection for Trump’s adult children for six months.
Though Biden is willing to help, Democrats aren’t unanimous in wanting them to. Some party activists believe Biden is an admired figure who remains a draw inside a grateful party.
Jane Kleeb, a vice chair of the DNC, said in an interview: “If you were to call any state party chair and ask them if they wanted Joe Biden to be a keynote speaker for their annual dinner, the answer would be yes. He is beloved by the party and beloved by the voters.”
Others argue that reminding voters of a 2024 campaign that went sour isn’t the best strategy for a party that is grasping for a message and searching for new, younger leaders. A CNN poll this month asked Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents which leader best reflects the party’s core values. Only 1% chose Biden.
What’s more, the wounds of 2024 are still fresh, with many Democrats aggrieved over Biden’s decision to run again and remain in the race until just a few months before the election, leaving Vice President Kamala Harris little time to organize a campaign of her own.
Alan Kessler, a longtime Democratic fundraiser from Philadelphia, said in an interview: “There are plenty of people in the Democratic Party who were obviously very frustrated with how things played out last year, but there are plenty of people who still love Joe Biden.”
At the “appropriate time,” Biden can be an asset to the party by campaigning in selected areas, such as his hometown, Scranton, Pennsylvania, but now isn’t it, Kessler added.
“It’s time to move on with new leadership,” he said.
Biden has no pangs of regret, a person familiar with his private conversations said. He remains defiant and believes Trump’s victory shows the party did itself no favors by pushing him to drop out of the race, the source said.
One person in particular seems eager to see Biden return to the political stage: Trump. The new president has used his massive following to ensure that Americans don’t soon forget the old one.
Trump has publicly mentioned Biden, Biden family members or the Biden administration an average of seven times a day since the start of his second term, according to an NBC News review of his remarks, interviews and social media posts.
Overall, Trump has invoked his predecessor in some form more than 400 times since the inauguration on Jan. 20. In most instances — more than 325 — Trump has mentioned Biden alone. In about 75 cases, Trump has mentioned Biden family members or the Biden administration.
The context in which Trump brings up his predecessor often involves immigration, inflation, elections or foreign wars, as well as issues involving the Justice Department.
Speaking at the Justice Department last week, Trump questioned Biden’s use of an autopen to sign documents, calling it “disrespectful to the office” and “maybe not even valid.”
The Justice Department blessed the use of an autopen in a memo in 2005, and the Constitution carries no requirement that the president sign documents by his own hand.
Vice President JD Vance also uses Biden as a foil. At a tech summit this week, Vance took time in his speech to take a swipe at Biden’s mental acuity — an issue that dogged the former president throughout the campaign.
“In defense of Joe Biden, he was asleep most of the time. I don’t think he totally realized what he was doing,” Vance said.
Asked why Trump speaks about Biden so frequently, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “We still very much are fixing so many of the problems created or started by the Biden administration. It’s important to remind the American people and media why these problems exist.”
A defense that Trump supporters use in rationalizing his attacks on perceived political foes is that he’s a “counterpuncher.” But here, Biden has already left the ring. He hasn’t thrown any public punches since Trump escorted him to the helicopter on Inauguration Day for his departure from the U.S. Capitol grounds.
Indeed, Biden’s first speaking event since he left office came last week with no fanfare whatsoever. He appeared in New York City for a conference of the National High School Model United Nations in Manhattan. Six months after having spoken before the actual U.N. for his last time as president, Biden gave a speech to its high school facsimile in a hotel ballroom. He also took questions and posed for pictures with students.
“He asked me about my future, and I told him how much he inspired me to go into the field of politics,” said Suzy Radzinski, 18, a senior at Brighton High School in Utah, who met Biden on the photo line.
A Facebook video from the event showed a group of excited students waving to Biden. “I met you on your book tour!” one shouted to him as he stood onstage in a suit and tie. “All right!” said Biden, prompting appreciative laugher.
Inside Biden’s close-knit circle, advisers have concluded that it’s not wise for him to respond publicly to every insult or accusation Trump throws his way. Doing so would personalize the issue, turning it into a contest between Trump and Biden, as opposed to keeping the focus on whether Trump is being truthful or not.
Biden’s approach for now is to let surrogates respond to Trump’s broadsides. Donna Brazile, a longtime Democratic strategist, said that’s the right posture.
“It makes no sense for Joe Biden to respond to Donald Trump,” she said in an interview. “The American people are not looking backward; they’re looking forward.”
Rather than take the attacks personally, Jill Biden has found a new role for herself: soothing those who are unnerved by the tumult in Washington, the person close to her said.
“She is finding herself comforting people. More and more, as she’s out and about, people come up to her who are looking for reassurance,” the person said.
Peter Nicholas is a senior White House reporter for NBC News.
Carol E. Lee is the Washington managing editor.
Megan Shannon is a desk assistant with NBC News Washington.
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