For weeks, President Joe Biden and his supporters have tried to move on from his awkward performance at the June 27 presidential debate by dismissing it as “just a bad night” and insisting that it would never happen again. But some people who attended the White House concert a few weeks earlier say Biden’s debate performance only “confirmed” the exact opposite for them.
Several people who attended a Juneteenth event at the White House last month — just 17 days before the debate — told ABC News in interviews that they had concerns about President Biden after seeing him personally at the event, and said others they spoke with who were also at the event had similar concerns.
“We weren’t really sure what to make of it, but we thought something was different, and he certainly seemed different,” Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Texas, told ABC News in an interview.
People interviewed by ABC News, including state lawmakers and former administration officials under President Barack Obama, described Biden as “aloof” and “stiff” at the event and his speech as “disjointed.” One lawmaker said the president’s assessment at the event came after he had privately raised concerns with White House staff months earlier, jokingly saying he could keep the president “glued together” until the election.
Reynolds was one of the first Democrats to quickly call for Biden to drop out of the race after watching the debate with former President Donald Trump.
“Watching him on that debate stage was a hallmark of what I witnessed that night at the White House,” Reynolds told ABC News. “It was a reminder, unfortunately, that this was probably not a one-off incident or just a bad night.”
A White House spokesman did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
The sentiment among some of the night’s attendees, which has not previously been reported, marks the latest example of internal concerns that appear to have been brewing in some parts of the party. It follows actor George Clooney’s call on Wednesday for Biden to drop out of the race following his personal experience hosting a fundraiser for Biden.
“It shocks me to say this, but the Joe Biden I sat with at a fundraiser three weeks ago was not the ‘big’ Joe Biden of 2010,” Clooney wrote in an essay for The New York Times. “He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debates.”
Footage of Biden, sitting in the front row at a Juneteenth concert at the White House, appearing to freeze while others danced around him, eventually went viral on social media, with some videos being viewed millions of times.
At the time, a White House spokesman hit back at those who circulated the video, saying Republicans “[ing] The people in the video who don’t stop moving are “frozen” because they simply aren’t dancing. There are other people in the video who are doing the same thing.”
Others at the concert also downplayed concerns about the story spreading. Texas County Commissioner Tommy Calvert told ABC News in an interview that he had “no thoughts” about the matter, pointing to Biden’s grueling travel schedule.
“You don’t hire a president to dance to the rhythm with Charlie Wilson and Patti LaBelle,” Calvert said, “you hire a president to get the job done for the American people, and, you know, I think that’s exactly what Biden is doing.”
Florida Rep. Felicia Robinson said she had not interacted personally with Biden, but “I saw him and he was fine.” Comedian Roy Wood Jr., who hosted the event, said he had not interacted extensively with Biden but “didn’t notice anything.”
“We had a great conversation,” Raheem DeVaughn, one of the night’s performers, said backstage, recalling his time with Biden. “We talked, we laughed, we joked, we told stories. He was excited.”
Another attendee, who had worked in the Obama administration, said he wasn’t bothered by the talking-point moment in which Biden appeared to freeze up, but was bothered by Biden’s brief remarks onstage at the event, which he said were “concerning” to him and those close to him.
“He was slurring his speech, he was depressed and he didn’t look well,” said a former Obama administration official, who agreed to speak if ABC News kept them anonymous and allowed them to speak freely.
“I’ve seen him stutter before, but that’s not it. He wasn’t slipping up. It happens to everyone,” the attendee said. “He just didn’t have the energy, his speech was slurred, he was hard to understand, he was in a bad mood that day and his speech was very short.”
The former official said concerns about Biden “definitely” came up at the event. “People around were immediately like, ‘Whoa,'” the former official said.
A former administration official echoed the sentiment, saying Biden’s debate performance reminded him of that night at the White House.
“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, maybe there’s something else going on? Are we giving him enough rest? What’s the problem?'” the attendee said. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, there could be something more to it. It definitely crossed my mind.”
Reynolds also said she discussed what she witnessed at the debate with two friends who attended the White House event.
“We both said, ‘Yes, we now know what we saw was insane,'” Reynolds said of the two conversations. “We both came to the same conclusion that what we saw was problematic.”
Alabama Congressman Juandalyn Givan told ABC News that she has attended multiple events with Biden over the past year, including Juneteenth events, and has seen a noticeable change in the president.
“I’ve met the president four times, in person, up close and personal… and had the opportunity to speak with him,” Givhan told ABC News. “I noticed that he’s older… and I noticed some nuances.”
Despite these observations, Givan said he would ultimately support Biden as the nominee if he continues to campaign, regardless of the president’s condition.
“I’m a Democrat. I’m going to vote for Biden… even if he’s in a diaper and in a stroller,” Givhan said. “But am I concerned? Absolutely. But if I had to choose between Biden and Donald Trump, I’m going to vote for Biden.”
Givhan, who hosted the reception with Vice President Kamala Harris in 2023, said he remains a staunch Democrat and would support the party’s endorsement no matter who the nominee is, but expressed doubts about the Biden campaign’s efforts.
Givhan said he was concerned ahead of the Juneteenth event when he saw Biden’s performance slipping during the visit and privately conveyed his concerns to White House staff.
“I expressed my concerns to some of my staff last August,” Givhan said. “I said, we have to make sure we can keep the president safe until November.”
Givan told ABC News he was disappointed that his concerns were met with the response: “Everything is fine.”
She said she felt “more concerned” as she left the Juneteenth event after meeting the president that night, and questioned the decision by White House staff to put the president in that situation.
“I was thinking to myself, ‘Myself, this is an 80-year-old man. It’s 7 o’clock and it’s hot outside. And I saw him in December, I saw him in February and March, and of course, it’s June now, so I’m saying in my mind, ‘This program should probably have started a little earlier,'” Givhan said.
