More breaches of trust in Joe BidenGeorge S’s re-election chances widened on Wednesday as he prepared to meet with Democratic governors in the evening, amid increasingly weak polls, growing calls to withdraw – and Barack Obama reportedly sharing privately that his former vice president’s path to re-election is even tougher after the debate.
Biden will speak with state governors and Capitol leaders throughout the week, officials indicated on Tuesday in an attempt to reassure them of their competence and address growing discontent among party leaders following last week’s calamitous debate performance against Donald Trump.
But Democratic anger and frustration continue to mount, in public and especially behind the scenes, as senior figures struggle to make sense of the crisis in the White House and chart the way forward.
At a campaign event in Virginia on Tuesday night, the US president attributed his poor debate to international travel leading up to the event, saying: “I wasn’t very smart. I decided to travel the world a few times, passing through about 100 time zones… before… the debate. I didn’t listen to my team and came back and almost fell asleep on stage. This is not an excuse, but it is an explanation.”
This is despite a week to rest and prepare in the US before last Thursday night’s debate.
Related: James Carville calls on Democratic Party to ‘deliver change’ and replace Biden
Former President Obama shared privately with Democratic allies who sought his advice that Biden, who was his vice president during his two terms in the White House, was already on a difficult path to re-election and that that path was now more difficult after the debate, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday night, citing unnamed sources who told the newspaper they were familiar with the former president’s comments.
Obama spoke with Biden by phone after the debate and Biden’s reelection campaign spoke of Obama’s “unwavering support,” while the former president’s team declined to comment, the outlet further reported.
A Reuters/Ipsos Poll released Tuesday found that one in three Democrats said Biden should end his re-election campaign after the debate in Atlanta, where he delivered a skewed, low-energy performance.
And even former first lady Michelle Obama, who never held elected office, led Trump by 50% to 39%, in a hypothetical comparison between those who responded to opinion polls, Reuters reported.
As of Tuesday night, a House Democratic aide said, there were 25 Democratic members on the House of Representatives preparing to ask Biden to leave. Biden’s campaign, however, continued to downplay concerns, noting that the president had raised $38 million as of last week.
Also on Tuesday, Lloyd Doggett, a congressman from Texas, became the first Democrat in the House of Representatives to publicly urge the president to resign.
Doggett openly expressed his own misgivings, saying he hoped the debate would “give some momentum” to the president’s stagnant election results in key swing states.
“It didn’t happen,” he said. “Instead of reassuring voters, the president has failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies.”
Several prominent Democrats who previously served in the House or Senate have already spoken out, calling for Biden to resign.
And some ostensibly supportive figures, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Jim Clyburn, a representative from South Carolina, issued statements that hinted at ambivalence.
“I think it’s a legitimate question to say: Is this an episode or a condition? When people ask that question, it’s completely legitimate — from both candidates,” Pelosi told MSNBC, adding that she had heard “contradictory” opinions about whether Biden was suitable for the presidential campaign.
Kamala Harristhe vice president, is the leading alternative to replace Biden if he decides not to continue his re-election campaign, according to seven senior sources from the Biden campaign, the White House and the Democratic National Committee with knowledge of current discussions on the topic, according to Reuters.
Some influential Democrats have presented alternatives to Biden besides Harris, including popular cabinet members and Democratic governors such as Gavin Newsom of California, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. But trying to bypass Harris is wishful thinking and would be nearly impossible, said these sources, who declined to be identified.
If the party’s nominee is named, Harris, 59, would take over money raised by Biden’s campaign and inherit campaign infrastructure, the sources said. She also has the highest name recognition of any alternative and the highest vote share among Democrats who could be seriously considered candidates, the sources said.
In the Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Tuesday, Harris was one percentage point behind Trump, between 42% and 43%, a difference that was well within the poll’s 3.5 percentage point margin of error, a result statistically as strong as Biden’s.
Sam Levin, Joanna Walters and Reuters contributed reporting
