Ex-Biden White House senior advisor says it's 'political malpractice' for any Democratic candidate to reject campaigning with the president

One of the most sought after Democratic surrogates was Joe Biden, who traveled to rural areas in the Rust Belt where he was more popular than President Barack Obama.

In districts where the Democratic Party had fallen out of favor with many voters, Biden's presence gave them a prominent national voice who could rally the party faithful and appeal to a broad swath of the electorate.

With Biden now in the Oval Office and having had months of mediocre approval ratings, some Democratic candidates have made it a point to distance themselves from the president on the campaign trail.

The ex-director of the White House Office of Public Engagement spoke out against such thinking.

The senior official at the Democratic National Committee was incredulous that any member would be hesitant since the Inflation Reduction Act will provide record funding to fight climate change, as well as a $52 billion chips-funding bill and last year's $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

He told The Washington Post that Democrats have been working on these things for a long time. The person who was finally able to do that would want to campaign for them.

It's political malpractice if they are reluctant. He said that if you don't want Biden, it is malpractice.

He said that he was confident that Biden would have a robust campaign schedule, and that candidates were not trying to keep the president in the dark.

He said they could pay off the national debt if they had a dollar for every time someone underestimated Joe Biden. You will see his numbers go up. I would tie myself to that if I were a candidate.

In a CNN interview last month, he said that the attacks on the Biden administration were similar to the ones that led to Donald Trump.

In interviews with reporters, Democratic candidates have often been asked if they would welcome a Biden visit, but many have skipped the question and emphasized that they are running local races.

A shift in Biden's approval ratings could change how some candidates view a potential presidential campaign appearance.