WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Democratic leader in U.S. Senate Chuck Schumer told the president Joe Biden at a meeting on Saturday, it would be better for the country and the Democratic Party if he ended his reelection campaign, ABC News reported Wednesday.
Democratic leader in the US House Hakeem Jeffries expressed similar views directly to Biden, ABC News reported, citing a source familiar with the conversation.
In a statement, Schumer’s office called the report “idle speculation” and said Schumer “conveyed the views of his caucus directly to President Biden on Saturday.”
Jeffries’ office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Biden has repeatedly rejected calls from Democrats to drop out of the race after his halting performance in a debate last month against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“The president told both leaders that he is the party’s nominee, that he plans to win, and that he looks forward to working with them both to pass his 100-day agenda to help working families,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a communicated.
On Wednesday morning, Democratic U.S. Representative Adam Schiff became the 20th Democrat in Congress to publicly call on Biden to drop out of the race.
(Reporting by Eric Beech and Jeff Mason; Editing by Costas Pitas, Deepa Babington and Tom Hogue)
