WASHINGTON – A challenger President Joe Biden promised on Wednesday to continue running for re-election, rejecting increasing pressure from Democrats withdraw after a disaster debate performance raised questions about his readiness to continue the campaign, let alone win in November.
But increasingly ominous signs were mounting for the president. Two Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to drop out of the race, while a key ally has publicly suggested how the party could choose someone else. And senior aides said they believe he will have just a few days to show he is up to the challenge before anxiety in the party increases.
“Let me say this as clearly and directly as possible: I’m running… no one is kicking me out,” Biden said on a call with officials from his re-election campaign. I’m in this race until the end and we’re going to win.”
Still, despite his efforts to use multiple levers — whether it was his impromptu appearance with campaign aides, private conversations with senior lawmakers, a series of weekend trips and a network television interview — to save his hesitating re-election, Biden faced serious and growing evidence. that support for him was rapidly waning on Capitol Hill and among other allies.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., told The New York Times that while he will support Biden as long as he is a candidate, this “is an opportunity to look elsewhere” and what Biden “needs to do is take responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is getting out of this race.”
Senior aides said they believe Biden, 81, has just a matter of days to mount a convincing show of his fitness for office before his party’s panic over his debate performance and anger over his response boil over, according to with two knowledgeable people. who insisted on anonymity to discuss more freely The president accepts the urgency of the task – having analyzed the polls and mountains of media coverage – but is convinced he can do it in the coming days and insists he will not drop out of the race, aides said .
Meanwhile, a major Democratic donor, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, also called on the president to drop out of the race, saying: “Biden needs to step aside to allow a strong Democratic leader to defeat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous.” The statement was first reported by The New York Times.
And all of this followed Rep. Jim Clyburn, Biden’s longtime friend and confidant, saying he would support a “mini-primary” in the run-up to the Democratic National Convention next month if Biden dropped out of the race. The South Carolina Democrat floated an idea that appeared to lay the groundwork for alternative delegate choices during Democrats’ planned virtual roll call, which is scheduled ahead of the party’s more formal convention set to begin Aug. 19 in Chicago.
On CNN, Clyburn said Vice President Kamala Harrisgovernors and others could participate in the competition: “It would be fair for everyone.”
Clyburn, a senior lawmaker who is a former member of his party’s House leadership team, said he has not personally seen the president act as he did on the debate stage last week and called it “troubling.”
And even as other Democratic allies have remained silent since Thursday’s debate, there is growing private frustration over the Biden campaign’s response to his disastrous debate performance at a crucial moment in the campaign — especially as Biden waited several days to make his move. direct damage control with seniors. members of your own party.
A Democratic aide said the lack of response has been worse than the debate performance itself, saying lawmakers supporting Biden want to see him directly combat concerns about his resilience in front of reporters and voters. The advisor was granted anonymity to openly discuss interparty dynamics.
Most Democratic lawmakers are taking a wait-and-see approach with Biden, however, hoping to get a better idea of how the situation plays out through new polls and Biden’s scheduled interview with ABC News, according to Democratic lawmakers. who requested anonymity to speak bluntly about the president.
When Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who called on Biden to drop out of the race this week, sought support from other Democratic lawmakers for his decision, he had no challengers and ended up issuing a statement on his own, according to one person. familiar with the effort. he granted anonymity to discuss the matter.
But there was also a feeling that the waiting period would soon expire if Biden did not intensify his approach to the Capitol or prove that he was up to the job.
Some suggested that Harris was emerging as the favorite to replace Biden if he withdrew, although those involved in private discussions acknowledged that the governors. Gavin Newsom of California and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan remain viable alternatives. But for some members, Harris is seen as the best prospect to quickly unify the party and avoid a messy and divisive convention fight.
Even as pressure mounted around Biden, he and Harris made a surprise appearance at an all-staff re-election campaign rally and delivered a rousing speech. They emphasized the importance of defeating former President Donald Trump, the presumptive nominee, in November and returned to Biden’s earlier post-debate promise that when he is knocked down, he will rise again.
“Just as we beat Donald Trump in 2020, we will beat him again in 2024,” said Biden, who told attendees he would not be dragged out of the race. Harris added: “We will not back down. We will follow our president’s example. We will fight and we will win.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked during her briefing with reporters whether Biden would consider resigning. “Absolutely not,” she said.
“I can’t expose something that will change the president’s opinion,” Jean-Pierre said of Biden continuing to seek a second term. She added that he “has light eyes.
Still, Democrats are unhappy with the explanations for Biden’s performance in the debate, both from White House officials and the president himself. And there is deeper frustration among some party members who think Biden should have resolved questions about his shaky debate performance much sooner and that he has put them in a difficult position by remaining in the race.
The Leadership Now Project, a group of business executives, academics and thought leaders, said in a letter that the “threat of a second Trump term” is great enough that Biden should “pass the torch of this year’s presidential nomination to the next generation of highly capable Democrats.”
The Trump campaign issued a statement noting that “all Democrats” now calling on the president “to resign were once Biden supporters.”
Trump had a slight lead over Biden in two election polls conducted after last week’s debate. A poll, conducted by SSRS for CNNfound that three-quarters of voters — including more than half of Democratic voters — said the party is more likely to win the presidency in November with a candidate other than Biden.
About 7 in 10 voters, and 45% of Democrats, said Biden’s physical and mental ability is a reason to vote against him, according to the CNN/SSRS poll.
And about 6 in 10 voters, including about a quarter of Democrats, said Biden’s reelection would be a risky choice for the country, not a safe one, according to a New York Times/Siena College survey. That poll found that Democrats were split on whether Biden should remain the candidate.
Biden campaign pollster Molly Murphy said “today’s polls do not fundamentally change the course of the race.”
In a further effort to boost morale, Biden’s chief of staff, Jeff Zients, urged White House aides, during an all-staff meeting, to turn off the “noise” and focus on the task of governing.
Biden himself began doing personal outreach on his own, speaking privately with senior Democratic lawmakers such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Delaware Senator Chris Coons and Clyburn.
Among the Democratic governors planning to appear in person were Tim Walz of Minnesota, who leads the Democratic Governors Association, Newsom, Whitmer, JB Pritzker of Illinois, Maura Healey of Massachusetts, Daniel McKee of Rhode Island, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, John Carney of Delaware and Wes Moore of Maryland, according to their aides. Governors Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Jay Inslee of Washington, Jared Polis of Colorado, Tina Kotek of Oregon and Phil Murphy of New Jersey planned to attend virtually. Harris will also participate in the session with governors.
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Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Zeke Miller, Colleen Long, Josh Boak and Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux in Washington and Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report.
