President Biden’s increasingly emphatic declaration that he will not drop out of the presidential race sends an unequivocal message to the wayward Democratic candidate: Any criticism he faces will damage the party’s chances against Donald J. Trump.
For days, Mr. Biden said he would remain the party’s nominee after a poor debate following the intervention of “God Almighty.” On Monday, he confirmed the statement.
It started with an open letter to congressional Democrats saying they were definitely running. It continues with a defiant call to one of his favorite cable news shows decrying the “elite” trying to shove people out. This includes a daytime appearance on a private video call with some of the campaign’s biggest donors as well as a private virtual meeting planned for Monday evening with past supporters: the Congressional Black Caucus.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Mr. Biden told donors.
The move is a show of defiance that Biden’s operation hopes will garner praise, as restless Democratic lawmakers return to Capitol Hill after the holiday break. At the same time, Biden’s team is trying to reframe the pressure campaign to cast him as one defined by the elite party establishment rather than a genuine reflection of grassroots voters’ fears about the 81-year-old commander-in-chief. age and acuity.
“I love this Joe Biden fight,” said Rep. Robert Garcia of California, a Democrat and outspoken Biden supporter. “When he took a punch, he would come back and punch harder.”
In private and public speeches on Monday, Mr. Biden made it clear that he holds all the cards when it comes to determining his political future. He has won every state in the Democratic primary and 14 million votes, with almost every delegate heading to Chicago next month for the party’s convention.
“I’m more than presumptive,” Mr. Biden corrected Mika Brzezinski, one of the co-hosts of “Morning Joe,” during an MSNBC phone interview. “I’m going to be the Democratic candidate.”
Mr. Biden tried to revive Mr. Trump, saying on the phone with the campaign’s main financier: “We’re done talking about the debate. It’s time to put Trump in the bull’s-eye.
Even some of the president’s allies, however, questioned why the public relations blitz would come more than 10 days after the debate instead of immediately. Mr. Biden had waited eight days after the debate to sit down for his first unscripted interview, with ABC News on Friday, and did not call congressional leaders until the day after the debate.
David Doak, a longtime Democratic strategist, said Mr. Biden’s efforts to impose party discipline were understandable despite the risk of “dividing the party at the worst possible time.” By insisting emphatically that he would not remove him, Mr. Biden made it harder for Democrats to ask him to do so so that he would not be weakened by the fall.
“Strategically, I would advise him if he wants to continue the nomination at all costs,” Mr. Doak said. “It is ‘at all costs’ that is the question.”
On MSNBC, Mr. Biden called on those who want the other candidate to try against him. “Come on, announce the president,” Mr. Biden dared. “Challenge me at the convention.”
In 2020, Mr. Biden talked about being a “bridge” for the next generation of Democratic talent. Now he sees himself as the party’s best chance to beat Mr. Trump again, regardless of widespread concern about his age.
“I will not be running if I am not convinced that I am the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump in 2024,” Mr Biden said.
Despite standing as the head of the party and the most powerful elected official in the country, Mr. Biden tried on Monday to take on the mantle of an outsider who has prevented the establishment of his own party.
“I’m so frustrated with the elites,” Mr. Biden said on the MSNBC show that has long been a favorite of the Democratic political establishment. “I’m not talking about you,” he said of the “Morning Joe” co-host, “but by the elites at the party, they know more.” He said those last words in a singsong tone.
He added that campaign weekends in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have reaffirmed his belief that voters are standing by him. “I don’t care what the millionaires think,” Mr. Biden said.
Less than three hours later, Mr. Biden joined a Zoom call with members of the national finance committee — top donors, billionaires and fundraisers — to thank them for their support.
Mr. Biden’s efforts to recast the race as a battle against the elites — an echo of how Mr. Trump has often attacked his own party leaders — are unsettling in some parties.
“This desire to wedge the ‘Dem elite’ against the ‘ordinary people’ is bad,” Hilary Rosen, a veteran Democratic strategist, wrote in X. “The elite are really late for their concerns about Biden. The majority of voters have been concerned about this for the past two years .
A New York Times/Siena College poll last week showed that 74 percent of voters said Mr. Biden was too old to be effective, including 59 percent of Democrats.
A day after several influential House Democrats have met almost on the phone and expressed their concerns about standing behind Mr. Biden, the president’s operation began to line up and received more statements of support, including from several key black lawmakers.
“I’m 100 percent with the president,” Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said on MSNBC. The current chairman, Representative Steven Horsford of Nevada, issued a statement on Monday standing by Mr. Biden, also: “President Joe Biden is the nominee and has been chosen by millions of voters in this country.”
Representative Grace Meng of New York, former vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, also issued a statement of support. Some of those who have criticized Mr. Biden in private have remained largely silent in public, including Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, who declined to answer questions about the president during an appearance in Manhattan.
Still, Mr. Biden continued to face fresh Democratic doubts on Monday.
Senator Jon Tester of Montana, who is up for re-election this fall in the state Mr. Trump is expected to do in a landslide, said the president “must prove to the American people – including me – that he is up to work for four more years.”
And Representative Greg Landsman of Ohio said “time is running out” for Mr. Biden, who he said should be able to make his case “over and over again.”
Mr. Biden’s next steps are expected to be a topic of discussion on Tuesday when House Democrats are scheduled to hold a members-only briefing at party headquarters.
A major concern among many of Biden’s allies is the president’s ability — or inability — to handle unscripted appearances.
On Monday, White House spokesman John Kirby announced that the president would also attend what he called a “big boy press conference” on Thursday after the NATO summit.
But in a sign of challenge for the president, the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, questioned why the Parkinson’s expert had visited the White House eight times in eight months in the same briefing.
Ron Klain, Mr. Biden’s former chief of staff, who has helped him prepare for the debate, wrote in X that “it takes the right candidate” to defeat Mr. Trump and that “pundits always deal with verbally gifted opponents — Ds and Rs — who have lost.”
“Only one person has beaten him,” Mr. Klain added.
Patrick McGeehan and Nicholas Nehamas contribute reports.
