WASHINGTON — Joe Biden’s insistence that he is the Democratic presidential nominee and will not be forced out of the race appears to have prevented public defections from Democrats — at least for now.
While he is certainly not in the clear and many Democrats are complaining privately and publicly that he cannot defeat Donald Trump this fall, Biden appears to have stopped the bleeding as he and his allies work to shore up support for his beleaguered presidential campaign.
“If the opposition is not unified,” said one House Democrat, “then it’s to Biden’s advantage.”
At a closed-door meeting of House Democrats on Tuesday, only a handful of Democrats privately expressed concerns about Biden’s age and ability to win in November, according to sources present. That small gang of defectors included Reps. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., Mike Quigley, D-Ill., and Mark Takano, D-Calif., sources said, who had previously publicly or privately called for Biden to resign.
In a small victory for Biden, longtime Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the powerful Judiciary Committee, left the meeting seeming resigned to the fact that Biden was at the top of the ticket. In a private call with other committee leaders two days earlier, Nadler asked Biden to step aside, sources said.
“Whether I have concerns or not is beside the point,” Nadler told reporters on Tuesday. “He will be our nominee and we all have to support him.”
A day earlier, Biden told lawmakers in a public letter and private phone calls that he would not drop out of the race following his disastrous debate performance late last month. The vast majority of lawmakers gathered at the Democratic National Committee headquarters Tuesday morning said Biden is the party’s nominee and that now is the time for Democratic officials to unite behind him.
There is “overwhelming consensus that Biden has decided to stay in the race and that we must unite behind him,” a House Democrat and Biden ally said as he left the meeting. “Those who are concerned should express them privately because fait accompli – Biden is the nominee.”
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., publicly supported Biden remaining as the candidate, but three sources present at the meeting said Jeffries “respectfully listened” to all sides in the room and did not try to twist arms.
Opening the meeting, however, Jeffries berated members for leaking details of Sunday’s private Zoom between Democratic committee leaders, two sources confirmed. Wagging his finger, Jeffries said he didn’t want leaks at Tuesday’s meeting.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Sahil Kapur, Rebecca Kaplan, Kyle Stewart It is Bridget Bowman contributed.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
