'That's scary': Allies fear Biden's closest advisers are leading him to defeat

Doubt is setting in among senior Democrats, including some of President Joe Biden's aides, about his strategy for winning re-election.

Biden's core inner circle remains confident in reminding voters about the Jan. 6 insurrection, political violence, threats to democracy and Donald Trump's character, which the president and longtime aide Mike Donilon believe will be the key to winning. Yet he's been consistently falling behind in polls, reported Axios.

"It is unclear to many of us watching from the outside whether the president and his core team realize how dire the situation is right now, and whether they even have a plan to fix it," said a Democratic strategist in contact with the campaign. "That is scary."

Biden's support among Black voters, as well as Latinos, young adults and union member, who tell pollsters they're concerned about democracy but more worried about inflation and the economy, is alarming campaign insiders although the democracy message still resonates well with older voters, Axios wrote.

But that message appears to be getting passed by Biden's inner sanctum of advisers. "In Mike I trust," said Ron Klain, the president's former chief of staff and a longtime friend of Donilon.

Many close to the president are worried, and they're afraid of raising those concerns in meetings because Biden's closest aides are known to exile dissenters.

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"Even for those close to the center, there is a hesitance to raise skepticism or doubt about the current path, for fear of being viewed as disloyal," said one person in Biden's orbit. "There is not a discussion that a change of course is needed."

Donilon, who has worked with Biden since 1981, insists that polls aren't reflecting voter concerns about Trump's threat to democracy and remains committed to that strategy, and the president's advisers told Axios that the concerned anonymous sources weren't familiar enough with those plans to dissent.

"These people have clearly not heard from Mike or anyone on the team the president's detailed case for re-election," one adviser said.