WASHINGTON – Some of the president’s longtime aides and advisors Joe Biden are increasingly convinced that he will have to step aside from the campaign and, in recent days, have been trying to find ways to persuade him that he should do so, according to three people familiar with the matter.
A small group of Biden’s administration and campaign advisers — at least two of whom have told allies they don’t believe he should continue to seek a second term — said they would have to convince the president of several things.
They said they have to plead their case with the president, who remains convinced of the strength of his campaign, that he cannot beat the old President Donald Trump. They have to convince him to believe that another candidate, like Vice President Kamala Harris, could beat Trump. And they must guarantee Biden that, if he steps aside, the process of choosing another candidate will be orderly and will not turn into chaos in the Democratic Party.
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These discussions were recounted by three people familiar with them who, like others in this article, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a delicate situation. There is no indication that any of the discussions reached Biden himself, one of the people briefed said.
The White House denied the account. “Unequivocally, that is not true,” said White House spokesman Andrew Bates. “President Biden’s team strongly supports him.”
TJ Ducklo, a spokesman for the Biden campaign, said the same about the president’s political team. “Patently false,” he said. “This team stands with the president.”
Those closest to the president, a group that includes some of his oldest advisers and members of his family, remain adamant that Biden will remain in the race. A person familiar with the group’s dynamics said such conversations don’t happen in the group closest to Biden, that he is still committed to staying in the race and that he still believes he is the best person to beat Trump.
The talks have been taking place outside that small orbit, but have included some of his oldest and most loyal allies.
One of the biggest obstacles these people see is convincing Biden that he can’t win. The president told confidants before his disastrous debate show on June 27 that he believed he had a better chance of winning a second term than Harris, according to a person briefed on the matter. Two people close to the president said he remains convinced he has a better chance of winning than she does.
Internal deliberations speak to the impasse between Biden and his party, in which the president has become increasingly entrenched in his conviction to run, and party leaders are publicly hinting that now may be the time for him to step aside.
Now, in the third week of the biggest political crisis his presidency has faced, Biden remains convinced that he is the man to win. His views are increasingly at odds with the mood of voters and members of his own party.
Most Democrats think Biden should step aside, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released Thursday. The poll also showed that the race remains close between Trump and Biden, but that Harris would do slightly better if she replaced him at the polls. Biden and his advisers have long dismissed polls that show concern about his age or ability to serve, and have been encouraged by the fact that polls continue to show a close race between Biden and Trump two weeks after the debate.
The consensus within the Biden operation is that hard numbers will be needed to convince him, especially polls that show his support has declined significantly.
The decision this week by the respected Cook Political Report to move six key Electoral College states in Trump’s direction reflected the growing electoral challenge he faces. But some polls show that Biden is still within striking distance of Trump, and that could reinforce his belief that he can still recover.
A memo written by two senior Biden campaign officials and distributed to staffers on Thursday reaffirmed the view that Biden is still the best candidate to defeat Trump.
“The movement we have seen, while real, is not a radical change in the state of the race,” states the memo, written by Jen O’Malley Dillon, the campaign chair, and Julie Chávez Rodríguez, Biden’s campaign manager.
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