A mysterious “Biden Bunker” uncovered in Virginia may be hindering newly elected Democrats.
Newly-elected Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger was slammed by an ex-Joe Biden official who said she was wrongly following Joe Biden’s playbook, squandering “goodwill” and allowing the GOP to define her.
Now the Biden allies are demanding she “come out of her Biden bunker.”
The barb comes on the heels of former Gov. George Allen offering to debate Spanberger virtually on the subject of redistricting if timing was an issue in her original rejection.
When confronted about it by Fox News last week, Spanberger briskly avoided the subject.
However, Michael LaRosa, former first lady Jill Biden’s longtime top aide and spokesperson, slammed Spanberger for the move, unfavorably comparing her to former President Joe Biden and calling a Washington Post poll showing her as the governor with the highest unfavorables dating back to Allen’s era “entirely self-inflicted and avoidable.”
Forty-six percent of Virginians disapproved of her job performance, while 47% approved, only four months into her term.
“[She] came in with a mandate and genuine goodwill, and within months, the GOP succeeded in branding her a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” he said.
“Instead of confronting it, the governor defaulted to the old 1990s ‘don’t give it oxygen’ playbook prescribed for Biden throughout his four years: duck and cover.”
Biden remained out of public view during some controversial points in his tenure, leading pundits to claim he was hiding or stowed away in a “bunker.”
LaRosa added on X that ignoring “attacks, smears and misinformation” doesn’t make them disappear but instead creates a vacuum for Spanberger and allows her opponents to define her.
“What started as silly right-wing noise is now a mainstream narrative, and it’s reflected in her first report card. She needs to channel the badass, confrontational Abby Spanberger from that Nov[ember] 2020 caucus call — spicy, direct and pragmatic.”
He suggested she hold regular pressers, get combative with reporters and accept interviews with mainstream media.
“She has to show and tell and climb out of the Biden bunker,” LaRosa said, before borrowing a line President Donald Trump used toward African American voters unsure of whether to break with Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party in 2016:
“What the hell does she have to lose?”
After she declined Allen’s invitation to an in-person debate on the merits of the redistricting effort — what some call gerrymandering — being put in front of voters, Allen said last Monday he would re-up his offer with even more favorable terms for Spanberger.
“All of this is a bit confusing; it’s unusual, and it helps the people to hear both sides of it,” Allen said of the redistricting referendum while speaking with Rich Herrera on Richmond’s WRVA radio.
Allen said Spanberger declined his invitation, citing her busy schedule and a pile of bills to review.
He told Herrera that he responded in a letter telling her he fully understands that experience and instead would like to debate virtually, but televised, for one hour, at a time and date and with a moderator of her choosing, before the April 21 election.
Spanberger’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and neither did representatives for Biden.