At Fundraisers, Biden Often Veers Off Script and Into Trouble

His off-the-cuff comments have sometimes muddled the administration’s messages on key issues, as when he called Chinese leader Xi Jinping a dictator during a fundraiser earlier this month in California. The remark prompted a furious response from Beijing as the Biden administration was in the midst of a diplomatic mission to ease tensions with China.

Biden has had a penchant for verbal gaffes over the course of his decades in the public eye. But the daily life of a U.S. president is largely a scripted affair, and Biden’s is no exception. At major speeches and White House events, he often reads from a teleprompter or glances at written remarks or note cards on his lectern. While the president sometimes ditches the script and speaks extemporaneously or answers shouted questions from reporters, much of his public communication is tightly orchestrated, like most presidents’ before him.

In front of donors, it is a different story.

China responded to President Biden’s reference to Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a dictator. Photo: Thomas Peter/Reuters

Biden often makes impromptu remarks at fundraisers, sometimes without written notes. He frequently delivers a variation of his stump speech, touting his legislative wins and repeating well-worn stories about lessons he learned from his father or his conversations with world leaders. But the informal setting—often at a private home, surrounded by a few dozen people, without cameras rolling—also makes it easier to deviate from his talking points.

“I happen to be a practicing Catholic. I’m not big on abortion,” Biden said Tuesday night at a fundraiser in Chevy Chase, Md. “But guess what? Roe v. Wade got it right.”

The comment was one of Biden’s most direct assessments of his personal discomfort with abortion, marking a break with many progressive politicians who have avoided making any negative comments about the procedure.

Politicians of both parties have faced criticism for remarks they have made while raising campaign cash. “These fundraisers have the dangerous veneer of a safe space,” said Kevin Madden, who advised Republican Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. “The candidate is around their strongest supporters, many of them close or longtime friends, and they tend to let their guard down.”

Madden knows from experience. In a leaked video of a 2012 fundraiser, Romney was caught making the case to donors that 47% of Americans would vote for then-President Barack Obama because they were dependent on government benefits. The comment led to widespread backlash and became a talking point for Democrats.

During a 2016 fundraiser in New York, Hillary Clinton,

A small group of reporters is allowed to observe part of Biden’s fundraisers, but audio and video recording is prohibited. Reporters are often told to leave the events after Biden delivers his opening remarks and aren’t present for the question-and-answer sessions in which he frequently participates.

At the fundraiser in California, Biden’s dictator remark came after he revealed that Xi was caught off guard when a Chinese balloon was spotted above the U.S. Biden later ordered the balloon to be destroyed.

“That’s what’s a great embarrassment for dictators, when they didn’t know what happened,” he said.

How do you think President Biden’s propensity to go off script will help or hurt his campaign? Join the conversation below.