WASHINGTON: Democrats worried about the President Joe Biden‘s ability to win this November created a renewed push for him to reconsider his election bid, using mountains of data, frank conversations and now, his own time out of the campaign trail after testing positive for COVID, to encourage a reassessment. Biden insists he is not backing down, confident he is the candidate to beat the Republicans Donald Trump before and will do it again this year. But public and private, key Democrats send a signal of concern, and some hope that will assess the trajectory of the race and heritage during this break for a few days.
Over the past week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries have spoken privately with the president, candidly expressing the views of Democrats on Capitol Hill, including their concerns.
Separately, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, spoke to the president last week armed with new data. The campaign chief specifically addressed the concerns of front-line Democrats heading into the House elections.
And on Wednesday, California Representative Adam Schiff, a close ally of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, became the highest-profile House Democrat to call on Biden to drop his re-election bid, saying that while the decision is up to Biden alone, he believes it’s time to “pass the torch.”
While tensions over Biden’s ability to run a winning campaign have eased, especially after the attempted assassination of Trump and when the Republican national convention took place in Milwaukee, Democrats know they have limited time to resolve the party’s turmoil after the performance of the last presidential debate. month.
Of course, many democrats want Biden to stay in the race. With The Democratic National Committee is moving forward with plans to hold a virtual vote to make Biden the nominee in the first week of August, ahead of the Democratic National Convention that begins on August 19 in Chicago.
Last Wednesday, ABC News reported new details about Biden’s private meeting over the weekend with Schumer at the president’s beach house in Delaware. He said Schumer told the president that “it’s better for the Democratic Party and better for the country if he bows out.”
Schumer’s spokesman called the report “idle speculation. Schumer’s leadership conveyed the caucus’s views directly to President Biden on Saturday.”
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Biden told Schumer, as well as Jeffries, “he’s the party’s nominee, he’s going to win, and we look forward to working with him on his 100-day agenda to help working families.”
But among Democrats nationwide, nearly two-thirds say Biden should step aside and let their party nominate a different candidate, according to the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. That greatly undercuts Biden’s post-debate claim that “average Democrats” are still with him despite some “big names” rejecting him.
Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling Wednesday in Las Vegas and experienced “mild symptoms,” including “general malaise,” from the infection, the White House said.
The president, who has been campaigning for days, had been scheduled to return to his Delaware beach home before the diagnosis.
Schiff’s announcement brings to nearly 20 the number of Democratic members of Congress who have called on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race because of his poor debate performance against Trump last month.
Schiff said that by bowing out, Biden would “secure his leadership legacy by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.”
Schiff is a prominent Democrat, and his statement will also be watched because of his proximity to Pelosi.
It was Pelosi who raised questions about Biden’s post debate, when she said it was “up to the president” to decide what to do, even though Biden has said he has no intention of stepping aside. The former speaker of the House generally supports the president, but has received calls from Democrats since the night of the debate asking what to do next.
In response to Schiff’s comments, the Biden campaign pointed to what it called “extensive support” for him and his re-election bid from members of Congress in key swing states, as well as from the Congressional black and Hispanic caucuses. The campaign noted that Biden has been joined on a trip to Nevada this week by nearly a dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Still, Schiff’s announcement came after Schumer and Jeffries encouraged the party to delay for a week its plan to hold a virtual vote to replace Biden, which could happen as soon as Sunday, according to two people familiar with the situation. anonymous to discuss private conversations.
The governing arm of the Democratic National Committee is set to meet on Friday to discuss virtual voting plans and finalize next week.
“We are not going to implement a virtual voting process in a hurry, although we will begin important considerations about how the virtual voting process will work,” said Bishop Leah D. Daughtry and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the chairman of the rules committee for Democrats. National convention wrote in a letter Wednesday.
Over the past week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries have spoken privately with the president, candidly expressing the views of Democrats on Capitol Hill, including their concerns.
Separately, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, spoke to the president last week armed with new data. The campaign chief specifically addressed the concerns of front-line Democrats heading into the House elections.
And on Wednesday, California Representative Adam Schiff, a close ally of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, became the highest-profile House Democrat to call on Biden to drop his re-election bid, saying that while the decision is up to Biden alone, he believes it’s time to “pass the torch.”
While tensions over Biden’s ability to run a winning campaign have eased, especially after the attempted assassination of Trump and when the Republican national convention took place in Milwaukee, Democrats know they have limited time to resolve the party’s turmoil after the performance of the last presidential debate. month.
Of course, many democrats want Biden to stay in the race. With The Democratic National Committee is moving forward with plans to hold a virtual vote to make Biden the nominee in the first week of August, ahead of the Democratic National Convention that begins on August 19 in Chicago.
Last Wednesday, ABC News reported new details about Biden’s private meeting over the weekend with Schumer at the president’s beach house in Delaware. He said Schumer told the president that “it’s better for the Democratic Party and better for the country if he bows out.”
Schumer’s spokesman called the report “idle speculation. Schumer’s leadership conveyed the caucus’s views directly to President Biden on Saturday.”
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Biden told Schumer, as well as Jeffries, “he’s the party’s nominee, he’s going to win, and we look forward to working with him on his 100-day agenda to help working families.”
But among Democrats nationwide, nearly two-thirds say Biden should step aside and let their party nominate a different candidate, according to the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. That greatly undercuts Biden’s post-debate claim that “average Democrats” are still with him despite some “big names” rejecting him.
Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling Wednesday in Las Vegas and experienced “mild symptoms,” including “general malaise,” from the infection, the White House said.
The president, who has been campaigning for days, had been scheduled to return to his Delaware beach home before the diagnosis.
Schiff’s announcement brings to nearly 20 the number of Democratic members of Congress who have called on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race because of his poor debate performance against Trump last month.
Schiff said that by bowing out, Biden would “secure his leadership legacy by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.”
Schiff is a prominent Democrat, and his statement will also be watched because of his proximity to Pelosi.
It was Pelosi who raised questions about Biden’s post debate, when she said it was “up to the president” to decide what to do, even though Biden has said he has no intention of stepping aside. The former speaker of the House generally supports the president, but has received calls from Democrats since the night of the debate asking what to do next.
In response to Schiff’s comments, the Biden campaign pointed to what it called “extensive support” for him and his re-election bid from members of Congress in key swing states, as well as from the Congressional black and Hispanic caucuses. The campaign noted that Biden has been joined on a trip to Nevada this week by nearly a dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Still, Schiff’s announcement came after Schumer and Jeffries encouraged the party to delay for a week its plan to hold a virtual vote to replace Biden, which could happen as soon as Sunday, according to two people familiar with the situation. anonymous to discuss private conversations.
The governing arm of the Democratic National Committee is set to meet on Friday to discuss virtual voting plans and finalize next week.
“We are not going to implement a virtual voting process in a hurry, although we will begin important considerations about how the virtual voting process will work,” said Bishop Leah D. Daughtry and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the chairman of the rules committee for Democrats. National convention wrote in a letter Wednesday.
