HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania. President Joe Biden urged his supporters to remain united during a series of stops in critical Pennsylvania on Sunday, even as some Democratic congressional leaders privately suggested it was time for him to abandon his re-election bid because of intensifying questions about whether he is fit for another term.
Addressing a stirring church service in front of the sun-drenched stained glass windows at Philadelphia’s Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, Biden, 81, joked, “I know I look 40,” but “I’ve been doing this for a long time”. time.”
“I, I swear to God, have never been more optimistic about the future of America if we stay united,” he said.
There and during a subsequent rally with union members in Harrisburg, Biden gave short speeches that touched on familiar themes. But he also left plenty of room for core supporters to discuss how to support him. In this way, the change in Pennsylvania seemed aimed at showing support for the president from the main political sectors, rather than proving that he still has four more years.
His party, however, remains deeply divided.
As Congress prepares to resume this week, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries called the committee’s top lawmakers Sunday afternoon to weigh their views. Several Democratic committee leaders, including Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut and Rep. Mark Takano of California, said privately that Biden should step aside, according to two people familiar with the meeting and who conceded. anonymity to discuss it. .
But other top Democrats, including members of the influential Congressional Black Caucus, have argued just as strongly that Biden remains the party’s choice. The conversation was wide-ranging, with committee leaders sharing various views on the situation, but there was no unanimity on what should be done, the people said.
Biden personally called lawmakers over the weekend. He also participated in a call with campaign surrogates and reiterated that he has no plans to drop out of the race. Instead, the president has promised to campaign more intensely in the future and step up his political travel, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
One Democrat the president spoke to, Sen. Alex Padilla of California, said he and others are pushing the Biden campaign to “let Joe be Joe, take him out.”
“I absolutely believe we can turn things around,” Padilla told the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, a person familiar with Sen. Mark Warner’s thinking said there will be no meeting on Monday to talk about Biden’s future, as had previously been discussed, and that those discussions will take place at Tuesday’s regular lunch with everyone. the Democratic senators. The person said a private meeting was no longer possible after it became public that the Virginia Democrat was contacting senators about Biden, and that a variety of conversations between senators continue.
Five other different Democratic lawmakers have already spoken out publicly asked Biden to abandon his re-election campaign in front of November. Meeting in person next week means more chances for lawmakers to discuss concerns about Biden’s ability to withstand the remaining four months of the campaign — not to mention four more years in the White House — and the true prospects of defeating the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald. Trump.
Biden’s campaign team also called and texted lawmakers to try to head off more potential defections, while increasingly asking key Biden supporters to speak on his behalf.
Still, calls for withdrawal emerged from different directions.
Alan Clendenin, a Tampa city councilman and member of the Democratic National Committee, called on Sunday for Biden to “step aside and allow Vice President Kamala Harris to advance her agenda as our Democratic nominee.” Director Rob Reiner, who has helped organize glitzy Hollywood fundraisers for Biden in the past, posted on X: “It’s time for Joe Biden to step down.”
The Democratic convention is fast Approaching and Biden Friday interview with ABC has not convinced some who remain skeptical.
Democratic fundraising packager Barry Goodman, a Michigan lawyer, said he is supporting Biden, but if he were to step aside, he would throw his support behind Harris. This is notable given that Goodman was also finance co-chair of both state campaigns for Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who has also been mentioned as a top-tier alternative.
“We don’t have much time,” Goodman said. “I don’t think the president will leave. But if he does, I think it would be Kamala.”
There was no such suggestion in Mount Airy, where Pastor Louis Felton compared the president to Joseph and the Biblical story of his “coat of many colors.” In it, Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers, only to eventually gain a prominent place in the pharaoh’s kingdom and have his brothers beg for his help, without initially recognizing him.
“Never count Joseph out,” Felton pleaded. Then, referring to Democrats who called on Biden to step aside, he added, “That’s what’s happening, Mr. President. People are jealous of you. Envious of your persistence, jealous of your favor. Envious of God. about your life.”
Felton also led a prayer where he said, “Our president is discouraged. But today, through your holy spirit, renew your mind, renew your spirit, renew your body.”
After the service, Biden visited a campaign office in Philadelphia, where Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who won a tough 2022 race while recovering from a stroke, offered energetic support.
“There’s only one guy who’s ever beaten Trump,” Fetterman said. “And he’s going to do it twice and bring him down for good.”
Later, as he exited Air Force One in Harrisburg, the president was asked if the Democratic Party supported him and he emphatically responded, “Yes.”
Joining him at the union event, Representative Madeleine Dean, also a Pennsylvania Democrat, said “democracy is at stake. There is one man who understands this: Joe Biden.”
Isabel Afonso, who saw Biden speak in Harrisburg, said she was worried when she saw the president’s performance in the debate, but she doesn’t think he should drop out of the race and that he can still win. “I know he is old, but I know that if something happens to him, a reasonable person will replace him,” said Afonso, 63 years old.
At the same event, 73-year-old James Johnson said he knew what it was like to forget things as he got older, but called Biden “a fighter.” He said replacing the president at the top of the Democratic ticket would only cause confusion. .
“I’m talking about longtime Democrats and people who have been in the Democratic Party for a long time,” Johnson said. “They might just decide to jump ship because of this.”
Still, others aren’t entirely convinced.
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told CNN that Biden “needs to answer questions from voters,” adding, “If he does that this week, I think he’ll be in a very good position.”
Biden declined to submit to independent cognitive testing, arguing that the daily rigors of the presidency were sufficient proof of his mental acuity. However, California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff told NBC on Sunday that he would be “happy if both the president and Donald Trump took a cognitive test.”
As some Democrats did, Schiff also seized on Biden’s suggestion during the ABC interview that losing to Trump would be acceptable “as long as I gave it my all.”
“It’s not just about whether he made the best attempt at college,” Schiff said, “it’s about whether he made the right decision to run or pass the torch.”
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Weissert and Mascaro reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Zeke Miller and Kevin Freking in Washington, Michelle Price in New York, Meg Kinnard in Chapin, South Carolina, and Bill Barrow in New Orleans contributed to this report.
