Biden campaign begins intensive outreach campaign with eye on second term

Published

2 years ago

May 8, 2023

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The White House is framing the 2024 campaign this way: Stability versus chaos.

And they want allies and outside groups to help spread that message.

As President Biden launches his reelection campaign, top White House aides and Democratic officials have met with allies and outside groups in closed-door sessions in recent days to discuss the president’s agenda and how he plans to win a second term, sources tell The Hill.

Allies who have attended the meetings with top officials have said a major part of Biden’s strategy is to “act presidential” to contrast with the infighting and chaos on the Republican side.

“It’s the Rose Garden strategy,” a participant in one of the meetings said, adding that Biden’s approach will be to “Be the president.”

“Let the guys on the other side have it out.”

The strategy is a similar approach to the one Biden took in 2020 when he opposed former President Donald Trump. After four years of controversy surrounding Trump, Biden campaigned on returning Washington to normal and having a president who kept his head down and intentionally remained out of the spotlight.

Biden’s approach “has more gravitas now,” one Biden ally said. “He can use the bully pulpit to also show that contrast of calm and collected versus chaotic and crazy. He can use that to his advantage.”

Biden also appears to have a more united party than in past years, they ally pointed out.

This year, after Biden launched his reelection bid, Democrats—who had appeared splintered in the last two election cycles — quickly rallied behind Biden.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who opposed Biden during the 2020 Democratic primary, rushed to endorse his former rival this year.

“The last thing this country needs is a Donald Trump or some other right-wing demagogue who is going to try to undermine American democracy or take away a woman’s right to choose, or not address the crisis of gun violence, or racism, sexism or homophobia,” Sanders told the Associated Press in an interview about his endorsement. “So, I’m in to do what I can to make sure that this president is reelected.”

Biden’s senior aides have made a concerted effort to reach out to progressives, one campaign official said, adding that the week of the campaign launch, they reached out to more than 5,000 key stakeholders across the coalition including labor unions as well as groups of African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans Pacific Islanders.

In one session last week, a day after Biden officially announced he was running again, prominent television analysts and strategists — including Donna Brazile and Paul Begala — gathered at the White House with some of the president’s top advisers to discuss Biden’s accomplishments and his forthcoming agenda, sources tell The Hill.

“They told us that their agenda was about stability,” the participant said. “I hadn’t heard it articulated quite that way before.”

A senior administration official said that the day-long briefings — the second time television analysts gathered this year — were scheduled over a month in advance in conjunction with the White House Correspondents Dinner when many of the invitees were in town from across the country and that the proximity to the campaign announcement occurred by happenstance.

The day included a number of briefings from senior staff on a string of issues including the president’s economic accomplishments and implementation as well as messaging around default, reproductive rights, foreign policy and Vice President Kamala Harris’s work, the senior administration official said.

The senior officials — which included White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt, Admiral John Kirby, Domestic Policy Adviser Susan Rice, Director of Legislative Affairs Louisa Terrell, Director of the National Economic Council Lael Brainard, White House counsel’s office spokesman Ian Sams, Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian, Senior Director for Transborder Security Katie Tobin as well as Stephanie Young and Kirsten Allen, senior aides to Harris — also discussed a communications strategy for the coming months. Each session included a lengthy question and answer session with the television analysts where they were able to get clarity on specific questions or share feedback.

The day ended with a happy hour in White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients’s office.

Biden remains underwater in polling, a sign of his vulnerability in a general election.

A recent PBS-Newshour-Marist poll out last month revealed that just four in 10 Americans approve of how Biden is handling the country.

The president also faces an enthusiasm gap when it comes to support, according to a USA Today/Suffolk poll out late last month.

The poll showed that 43 percent of Biden’s voters say they are less excited about throwing their support behind him during the 2024 race.

The Biden campaign official told The Hill that outreach was a key priority in the early days of the campaign.

Biden officials also hosted a briefing with social media influencers—on the heels of the reelection announcement, the official said. And they’ve conducted outreach to more than 230,000 volunteers and supporters from the 2022 midterms, including in key states such as Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Florida to “reconfirm their support for 2024 and activate volunteer efforts in the coming weeks.” Texas mall shooter’s extremist social media posts under review, official says Once-cool Facebook may have 3 billion users, but many of them are old

The official also said they have engaged in recent ways with more than 225,000 Biden-Harris “super volunteers” who were “critical” to their victory in 2020 and in the 2022 midterms.

The early outreach is important to the success of the campaign, a participant in one of the briefings said.

“We’re a big tent party with a lot of different voices and it’s vital to get everyone on the same page, singing the same notes,” the participant said.

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Israeli military announces ‘tactical pause’ in fighting in parts of Gaza amid hunger crisis

Published

1 hour ago

July 27, 2025

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Israeli military announces 'tactical pause' in fighting in parts of Gaza amid hunger crisis

Israel has begun a pause in fighting in three areas of Gaza to address the worsening humanitarian situation.

The IDF said it would halt fighting in three areas, Muwasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City, from 10am to 8pm local time until further notice, beginning today.

In a statement, the IDF said it would also establish secure routes to help the UN and aid agencies deliver food and other supplies.

Israel’s announcement of what it calls a “tactical pause” in fighting comes after it resumed airdrops of aid into Gaza.

While the IDF reiterated claims there is “no starvation” in Gaza, it said the airdrops would include “seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar and canned food to be provided by international organisations”.

Reports suggest aid has already been dropped into Gaza, with some injured after fighting broke out.

In other developments, Bob Geldof has accused Israeli authorities of “lying” about starvation in the territory – telling Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips the IDF is “dangling food in front of starving, panicked, exhausted mothers”.

He told Sky News: “This month, up to now, 1,000 children or 1,000 people have died of starvation. I’m really not interested in what either of these sides are saying.”

Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza from the start of March. It then reopened aid centres with new restrictions in May, but said the supply had to be controlled to prevent it from being stolen by Hamas militants.

On Saturday, reports referencing US government data said there was no evidence Hamas had stolen aid from UN agencies.

The IDF’s international spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, described such reports as “fake news” and said Hamas thefts have been “well documented”.

Airdrops ‘expensive and inefficient’

It comes as the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said as of Saturday, 127 people have died from malnutrition-related causes, including 85 children.

They include a five-month-old girl who weighed less than when she was born, with a doctor at Nasser Hospital describing it as a case of “severe, severe starvation”.

Health workers have also been weakened by hunger, with some putting themselves on IV drips so they can keep treating badly malnourished patients.

On Friday, Israel said it would allow foreign countries to airdrop aid into Gaza – but the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has warned this will not reverse “deepening starvation”.

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini described the method as “expensive” and “inefficient”, adding: “It is a distraction and screensmoke. A manmade hunger can only be addressed by political will.

“Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need.”

UNRWA has the equivalent of 6,000 trucks in Jordan and Egypt waiting for permission to enter Gaza, he added.

MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, warned on Friday that 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished, and said the lack of food and water on the ground was “unconscionable”.

The UN also estimates Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food, the majority near the militarised distribution sites of the US-backed aid distribution scheme run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

In a statement on Friday, the IDF had said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians”, and reports of incidents at aid distribution sites were “under examination”.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has also previously disputed these deaths were connected with its organisation’s operations, with director Johnnie Moore telling Sky News: “We just want to feed Gazans. That’s the only thing that we want to do.”

World

‘I still have hope’: Parents of IDF soldier taken hostage by Hamas fear he’ll be one of last freed

Published

4 hours ago

July 27, 2025

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'I still have hope': Parents of IDF soldier taken hostage by Hamas fear he'll be one of last freed

Yehuda searches through a downstairs room looking for a plastic bag containing the most precious of objects.

It’s a small, blackened Rubik’s Cube that belongs to Yehuda’s son Nimrod – one of 20 living Israeli hostages still being held by the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.

It was found in Nimrod’s burnt-out tank after the October 7th attacks.

“He likes PlayStation and Rubik’s Cube,” says Nimrod’s mother, Vicky.

“They found the Rubik’s Cube in the tank. It was complete but a little bit dark and they brought it back to us.”

We spoke to Nimrod’s parents Yehuda and Vicky about the emotional rollercoaster hostage families in Israel are going through – as hope rises and fades of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

“I still have hope that maybe I will see Nimrod again,” says Vicky.

“It almost breaks my heart because I still had expectation,” she says – in spite of the latest failure to find resolution in talks between Israel and Hamas in Doha.

“But I still have hope that maybe something good will happen,” she says.

Vicky says: “We heard [during] the last weeks, President Trump saying we will hear about a ceasefire soon – next week – in a few days.

“We heard our prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] say visiting Washington and meeting Trump was very successful – and heard members of the coalition talking about our prime minister eventually understanding he needs to end the war. But until now nothing.”

The delegation coming back to Israel doesn’t mean a total collapse of ceasefire talks, but US envoy Steve Witkoff said the response to the latest ceasefire proposals by Hamas showed “a lack of desire”.

And so the rollercoaster of emotion for the hostage families continues.

Middle East latest: Gaza aid airdrops a ‘smokescreen’

Nimrod’s father Yehuda Cohen said: “Of course it’s a disappointment but it’s not the first one. A long time ago I learned not to get my expectations up so the disappointment won’t be too deep.

“The solution is very simple – I’ve got it on my shirt – ceasefire and hostage deal. Meaning the only way to get all the hostages is ending the war.”

Yehuda shows us Nimrod’s bedroom at the family home. It’s exactly as it was when Nimrod left to return to his army duties a few days before the October 7 attacks.

Except in a corner, there’s a box of uniforms and personal possessions, including a wallet which Nimrod had left at his army outpost – all returned to the family by the IDF.

It’s just like the bedroom of any other teenager – Nimrod was 19 when he was kidnapped. But two birthdays have passed since then. Nimrod is 21 now – a milestone spent in captivity a few weeks ago.

It’s believed there are 20 living Israeli hostages in Gaza – all male – and that Hamas is holding the bodies of 27 more hostages who have been killed.

But even if a deal is agreed, the first phase is expected to secure the release of only half of the living hostages – and Nimrod’s parents say their son, as a soldier, is not likely to be one of the 10.

Yehuda says: “A partial deal means that the probability my son will be on that list is close to zero. So he’s going to be one of the last ones to be released, and that’s why we have to fight.”

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Bob Geldof accuses Israeli authorities of ‘lying’ about starvation in Gaza

Published

4 hours ago

July 27, 2025

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Bob Geldof accuses Israeli authorities of 'lying' about starvation in Gaza

Bob Geldof has accused the Israeli authorities of “lying” about starvation in Gaza – after Israel’s government spokesperson claimed there was “no famine caused by Israel”.

Earlier this week, David Mencer claimed that Hamas “starves its own people” while on The News Hour with Mark Austin, denying that Israel was responsible for mass hunger in Gaza.

Appearing on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Geldof said the claims are false.

Follow latest: Gaza aid airdrops a ‘smokescreen’ and ‘distraction’

Sir Trevor asked the Live Aid organiser: “The Israeli view is that there is no famine caused by Israel, there’s a manmade shortage, but it’s been engineered by Hamas.

“I guess the Israelis would say we don’t see much criticism from your side of Hamas.”

In response, Geldof said “that’s a false equivalence” and “the Israeli authorities are lying”.

The singer then added: “They’re lying. [Benjamin] Netanyahu lies, is a liar. The IDF are lying. They’re dangling food in front of starving, panicked, exhausted mothers.

“And while they arrive to accept the tiny amount of food that this sort of set up pantomime outfit, the Gaza Humanitarian Front, I would call it, as they dangle it, then they’re shot wantonly.

“This month, up to now, 1,000 children or 1,000 people have died of starvation. I’m really not interested in what either of these sides are saying.”

He added: “If the newsfeeds and social feeds weren’t so censored in Israel, I imagine that the Israeli people would not permit what has been done in their name.”

Asked about the UK government’s reaction, Geldof said it was “not enough”.

“This is a distraction thing about ‘let’s recognise the state ‘ – absolutely, it should have been done ages ago, but it’s not going to make any material difference,” he said, referring to calls for Sir Keir Starmer to recognise Palestine as a state.

In the Sky News interview earlier this week, Mr Mencer added: “This suffering exists because Hamas made it so. Here are the facts. Aid is flowing, through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Millions of meals are being delivered directly to civilians.”

He also claimed that, since May, more than 4,400 aid trucks had entered Gaza carrying supplies.

It comes after MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, warned 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished.

The charity said Israel’s “deliberate use of starvation as a weapon” has reached unprecedented levels, and said that at one of its clinics in Gaza City, rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have trebled over the past two weeks.

MSF then described the lack of food and water on the ground “unconscionable”.

In a statement to Sky News, an Israeli security official said that “despite the false claims that are being spread, the State of Israel does not limit the number of humanitarian aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip”.

It then blamed other groups for issues delivering aid. They said: “Over the past month, we have witnessed a significant decline in the collection of aid from the crossings into the Gaza Strip by international aid organisations.

“The delays in collection by the UN and international organisations harm the situation and the food security of Gaza’s residents.”

The IDF also told Sky News: “The IDF allows the American civilian organisation (GHF) to distribute aid to Gaza residents independently, and operates in proximity to the new distribution zones to enable the distribution alongside the continuation of IDF operational activities in the Gaza Strip.

“Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted in the Southern Command and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned.

“The aforementioned incidents are under review by the competent authorities in the IDF.”