Anita Dunn: Biden team focused on ‘what do we do next’ after lackluster debate

Biden administration adviser Anita Dunn said President Biden is focused on what’s next after his lackluster debate performance this week.

Dunn joined MSNBC’s “The Weekend” on Saturday, where she continued the Biden campaign’s attempt to tamp down the panic after the debate.

“A debate is one moment in the campaign,” she said. “And the reality is that I think voters experienced this debate a little differently than perhaps some of the insiders.”

She added, “The conversation we had is, ‘OK, what do we do next?’”

Dunn said the campaign is looking at ongoing research and the key issues that are important to voters.

“So, I think that what you will see, as you often see after these debates, are not huge changes,” Dunn said. “The president is going to continue to be out there and he can make his case for why Donald Trump is a threat to this country and why there is a better bath ahead of America.”

Dunn argued that Biden’s vision includes a country where everyone is included and the federal government is not seen as “an instrument of retribution.”

“We have a true democracy where people can disagree but at the end of the day, we all come together behind certain basic American values. So, that’s what he’s going to continue to talk about,” Dunn said.

After Biden’s shaky performance Thursday, there have been calls from both sides of the aisle for him to step aside and allow someone new to take on former President Trump this fall. The White House and the Biden campaign have squashed those calls and said the president is not going anywhere.

On Friday, he gave an energetic speech to a crowd in North Carolina, where he said he knows how to get back up after he’s been knocked down.

“Folks, I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” Biden said. “But I know what I do now. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job.”

The debate was seen as a pivotal moment for Biden’s stagnant campaign and since he underdelivered, Democrats are questioning his ability to lead for another four years.