- Former Sen. Doug Jones said President Biden needed to have more face time in the American public.
- While speaking with NBC's Chuck Todd, Jones argued that Biden had a gift in connecting with people.
- "I think they need to let Joe be Joe," the former Alabama lawmaker said of Biden's staff.
Former Sen. Doug Jones on Friday said he wanted to see President Joe Biden have more face time with the American public, arguing that the commander-in-chief deeply connects with people and should be given more opportunities to do so.
While speaking with NBC News journalist Chuck Todd on "The Chuck ToddCast," the Alabama Democrat said that the COVID-19 pandemic has hampered Biden's ability to spread his message among Americans more effectively, but expressed that his top staffers needed to let the veteran politician be himself.
"He wears that office very well, he can be very presidential, but I think they overcorrected. And I think they need to let Joe be Joe," Jones said of Biden's staff.
He continued: "The pandemic has created a little bit of a problem. I mean … there needs to be a level of protection around the president. But he can connect with people so well — I've never, hardly except for Bill Clinton and a few others, had somebody that can connect on a personal basis. And I think they need to get back to that."
Jones — who won a 2017 Senate special election and served in the upper chamber from 2018 to 2021 — has known Biden for decades and earlier this year successfully shepherded Associate Justice-designate Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination through the Supreme Court confirmation process.
The former Democratic lawmaker expressed frustration at some in his party who have started to question whether Biden — beset with middling approval ratings as the party approaches a difficult midterm election cycle — should run for reelection in 2024.
"I'm tired of listening to the damn Debbie Downers that went, 'Oh, my God, woe is me, all is lost, all is lost.' That is just not the case," Jones said of the upcoming midterms.
He added: "We have got a slate of candidates around this country who, I think, can do very well."
Jones also said that Democrats should not hesitate to compare the two parties by speaking about the seriousness of the January 6, 2021, attack at the US Capitol.
"Democrats have to bring that home a little bit. I think every Democrat needs to ask their opponent — 'What would you have done if you were in Mike Pence's place that day?'" he said.
He added: "I'd make it absolutely part of the midterm conversation because our entire democracy is at stake. And we came so close to losing it."