Biden’s Bubble & Dana Walden’s Next Moves

The Klain Conundrum, Walden’s Ascent, Zaz’s Next Moves
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The Klain Conundrum, Walden’s Ascent, Zaz’s Next Moves

Happy Friday. Welcome back to the Daily Courant, your afternoon guide to what’s new at Puck.

Today, we lead with Tara Palmeri’s penetrating analysis of the Biden–Klain enigma, how the West Wing is tuning out the social media hordes, and why Democrats worry the president’s commitment to his chief of staff has become a crutch.

Then, below the fold, Matt Belloni reveals what everyone in Hollywood is really saying about Dana Walden’s contentious ascent at Disney. And Julia Alexander joins Peter Hamby to discuss where Zaz will likely next turn his tractor-beam.

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The Biden Bubble

Despite frustrations that the White House needs a shift in direction, Biden is sticking with Ron Klain, and won’t be influenced by the media, the Twitter left, or anyone else. But just because Biden is loyal to Klain doesn’t mean that staffers aren’t above figuring out to whom they might want to hitch their wagons moving forward. Plus, notes on Liz Cheney’s rising left-wing reputation and Kim Guilfoyle’s Jan. 6 payday.

TARA PALMERI

Earlier this month, Adam Schiff, the Democratic congressman and January 6 Commission supporting actor, offered some candid criticism of his big boss, Joe Biden. Schiff was attending a D.C.C.C. fundraiser in Charleston, hosted by Donna and Randy Friedman and Ned Brown, during another leg of his nation-wide tour that Punchbowl described as an attempt to raise his profile in advance of a potential Democratic caucus leadership bid, should Nancy Pelosi step down. At that fundraiser, according to an attendee paraphrasing his remarks, Schiff articulated that, as awful as Donald Trump was, Biden wouldn’t be wrong to emulate his capacity for self-promotion. “I wish he would do that, maybe he’s just genetically predisposed not to,” one attendee told me, again paraphrasing Schiff. “And he’s got a lot to brag about, but he won’t do it.”

Schiff doubled down on the remark, explaining that he’s given a number of people at the White House this advice, including intrepid chief of staff Ron Klain. He explained that he wished that Biden would be offering proclamations about his administration’s achievements every day.

The paradox of the barely 18-month-old Biden administration is simple. It has accomplished a great deal—passing a Covid relief bill, a massive infrastructure package, and possibly some form of gun control while returning the presidency to a sense of normalcy. And yet Biden’s approval numbers are now at 39 percent, according to a new Reuters poll, as he faces serious challenges like inflation, sky-high gas prices, a lingering pandemic and a party bewildered that he hasn’t been able to deliver on his promises with such slim congressional margins. Despite a barrage of recent, high-visibility press moments that I’ve chronicled in this space—his twin op-eds; cameos from BTS and Matthew McConaughey, who urged lawmakers to respond to the events in Uvalde; a prime time address; a meeting with the Federal Reserve’s Jay Powell; a Kimmel appearance; and a recent attempt to encourage oil companies to lower prices—Biden still remains largely out of public view…

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