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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.

Asked about the prospect of Biden re-entering the political sphere,
President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Friday, “I hope
so.”

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 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.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/bidens-want-back-in-rcna196956

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