WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden imperiled reelection campaign faced new problems Wednesday when House Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi said only that “it’s up to the president to decide” whether he should stay in the race, famous donor George Clooney said he should not run and Democratic senators and lawmakers expressed new fears about his ability to defeat Republicans donald trump.
Late at night, Vermont Senator Peter Welch called on Biden to withdraw from the election, becoming the first Senate Democrat to do so. Welch said he is concerned because “the risks could not be higher.”
The sudden flood of serious pronouncements despite Biden’s decision determined insistence he’s not leaving the 2024 race exposed publicly, just how unsettled the issue remains among prominent Democrats. On Capitol Hill, an eighth House Democrat, Rep. Pat Ryan of New York, and later a ninth, Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, publicly called on Biden to step aside.
“I want him to do whatever he decides,” Pelosi said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” rather than declaring that Biden should stay. Although Biden has repeatedly said he has made his decision, she said, “We are all encouraging him to make this decision, because time is running out.”
It’s a crucial moment for the president and his party, as Democrats consider what was once unthinkable: the resignation of incumbent Biden, just weeks before the Democratic National Convention, which is on track to nominate him as their running mate. re-election.
Biden is welcoming world leaders in Washington for the NATO summit this week, with a packed schedule of formal meetings, side talks and long diplomatic dinners, all opportunities to show he is ready for the job, despite a worrying performance last month in the first presidential debate with Trump .
With his party at a crossroads, Biden faces the next tests on Thursday – in public, at a scheduled press conference that many Democrats will be watching for signs of his abilities, and in private, as his top advisers meet with the caucus. Senate Democrat to discuss their concerns. and reinforce support.
Welch said in a Washington Post op-ed published Wednesday night: “We cannot ignore President Biden’s disastrous debate performance.”
The first-term senator said Vermont loves Biden and was asking the president to withdraw from the race “with sadness.”
It is certain that Biden maintains strong support from the main sectors of his coalition, especially from some members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Capitol Hill, whose leadership was fundamental in leading the president to victory in 2020 and is by his side as the country’s best choice for to defeat. Trump again in 2024.
“Right now, the stakes are very high and we have to focus,” Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota told the Associated Press earlier this week, saying Democrats are “losing ground” as they fight for Biden’s candidacy. . “Democracy is at stake. Everything we value as Democrats, as a country, is at stake and we have to stop being distracted.”
Pelosi has been widely watched for signs of how top Democrats are thinking about Biden’s decision injured candidacyhis comments were considered important to the party’s direction, as members evaluate possible alternatives in the campaign against trump.
Because of her powerful position as a former speaker of the House and her proximity to Biden as a trusted, longtime ally of his generation, Pelosi is seen as one of the few Democratic leaders who could influence the president’s thinking.
The lack of a full statement from Pelosi supporting Biden’s continued campaign is what lawmakers are likely to hear most clearly, even as she later told ABC that she believes he can win. Her comments came when actor Clooney, who had just hosted a glitzy event Hollywood Fundraising to the president last month, said in a New York Times article that the Biden he saw three weeks ago was not the Joe Biden of 2020. “He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
Democrats are wavering over whether to continue supporting Biden after his poor June 27 debate performance and his campaign’s weak response to calls for Biden, at 81, to show voters he is ready for another four-term term. years.
Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat from Colorado, spoke forcefully Tuesday night about the danger of a second Trump presidency and said it was up to the president to “consider” the options.
Almost without calling for Biden to step down, Bennet said on CNN what he has told his colleagues privately – that he believes Trump “is on track to win this election – and perhaps win it by a landslide and take with him the Senate and the chamber.”
Bennet said: “It’s not a question about politics. It’s a moral question about the future of our country.”
On Wednesday, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said he was “deeply concerned” about Biden’s victory in the election, which he called existential for the country.
“We have to reach a conclusion as quickly as possible,” Blumenthal told CNN.
And Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia told reporters: “I have every confidence that Joe Biden will do the patriotic thing for the country. And he will make that decision.”
Biden and his campaign are working harder now to shore up support, and the president met with labor leaders Wednesday, counting on unions to help make the case that his record in office is more important than his age.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Biden’s campaign to address senators’ concerns and redoubled his support for the president. “As I have made clear repeatedly, publicly and privately, I support President Biden and remain committed to ensuring that Donald Trump is defeated in November,” he said.
The president’s team is sending senior Biden advisers Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti and campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon to meet privately with Democratic senators on Thursday for lunch, according to an aide Senate leadership and the Biden campaign.
There were some concerns, however, that the plan might backfire. A Democratic senator who requested anonymity to speak about the closed-door meeting said it would be a waste of time if Biden did not present the case to senators in person.
Pelosi said Biden “has been a great president,” loved and respected by House Democrats. The Californian said she watched his hard-hitting speech at the NATO summit on Tuesday and recounted his many accomplishments.
Although foreign leaders are in Washington this week and Biden is on the world stage hosting the event at a critical time in foreign affairs, Pelosi encouraged Democrats to “hold off” on any announcements about his campaign.
“Whatever you’re thinking, tell someone privately, but you don’t have to put it on the table until we see,” she said, what “this week” will look like.
___
Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Farnoush Amiri and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
