Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill are rallying behind President Biden as several party lawmakers privately — and publicly — question his viability at the top of the ticket following his disastrous debate performance in Atlanta last month.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) on Monday expanded on previous statements of support for Biden, the party’s presumptive nominee , despite the negative reaction to the debate.
“I made it clear the day after the debate publicly that I support President Joe Biden and the Democratic ticket,” Jeffries told reporters on Capitol Hill. “My position has not changed.”
At the same time, however, opposition to Biden’s re-election bid is growing within Democratic ranks.
Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, made waves Monday by becoming the sixth House Democrat to publicly call for Biden to resign, further increasing public resistance to Biden. pronounced behind the scenes.
Smith said Biden has an excellent track record to run, but is no longer able to communicate that track record to the public in a way that will energize voters and give Democrats the best chance of defeating Trump.
“I think he should step aside,” Smith said on CNN’s “The Lead.” “I think it’s clear he’s not the best person to deliver the Democratic message.”
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), who has also spoken out publicly against keeping Biden on the ballot, said many other Democratic lawmakers agree but are simply waiting for the right time to announce it.
“They will,” he said. “We’ll let this run its course.”
But Biden on Monday also won support from other prominent lawmakers, who returned to Washington after the long July 4 recess, supporting the president.
“He’s made it very clear that he’s in this race; he has made it very clear that he is not abandoning this race, he is the nominee,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.), who said she spoke with Biden over the weekend, told reporters at the Capitol on Monday . “I’m making sure I support him and I’m focused on making sure we win in November.”
That internal divide — which grows larger by the day — will be front and center during a closed-door meeting at the Capitol on Tuesday morning, when Democratic leaders will meet in person with rank-and-file House members. Democratic Caucus for the first time since the June 27 debate.
During that 90-minute event, Biden was at times incoherent, stumbling over his words, losing his train of thought and changing the subject mid-answer. The performance surprised Democrats and raised previously unthinkable questions about whether he should continue to run for a second term.
Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) said Monday he’s not ready to call for Biden to withdraw, but he’ll be watching closely this week to see if the campaign has a strategy to win the handful of swing states that will decide who controls power in Washington next year.
“The campaign gave us no reason to be confident,” Peters said. “We have a difficult task in the swing states to defeat Trump. think about how we will win these states.”
A House Democrat who has said Biden should step aside predicted Monday that more lawmakers will publicly call on the president to withdraw from the race if data shows Democrats are at risk of losing the lower chamber with Biden at the top. plate. . Those poll numbers, the lawmaker argued, were delayed because of the July 4th holiday.
“My sense is that they’re going to get a lot of data this week… I think if it looks like there’s a big bleed in some of our swing districts and we can’t win the House, that’s going to be alarm five to fire because our job is ultimately is to win the Chamber”, said the parliamentarian, who requested anonymity to discuss the delicate topic.
“We are petrified by the possibility of losing everything,” added the Democrat. “Honestly, this is why people are petrified.”
The episode poses a major challenge for Jeffries and other Democratic leaders, who are struggling to contain growing domestic anxiety about Biden’s fitness and unite the party to keep Trump out of the White House.
Tuesday’s meeting – which will take place at the party’s campaign headquarters, to allow talks about campaigns – will mark a fundamental step in this process. In a sign of how sensitive the conversation is expected to be, lawmakers were asked not to bring their phones.
“The Caucus meeting will be an excellent opportunity to hear from all of our members,” House Minority Leader Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) told reporters Monday.
Others have suggested it will be a tense affair.
“People are lined up on both sides,” said Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), a strong Biden supporter. “There are people like me who fully support the president. And you have people who are really scared because of their districts and want to get rid of it.
“So I think it’s going to be a real battle, but I don’t think you’re going to come to any consensus.”
To drum up support, Biden held a conference call with members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) on Monday night, providing him the opportunity to bolster support from a group that is virtually united behind his presidential bid.
“The group most loyal to the Democratic Party is the black community. Except none. So I’m glad he recognizes that,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said shortly before the call. “The policies he has promoted work and have been good for this country. And normally, we judge a person by their history.”
Although Jeffries, the House’s top Democrat, endorsed Biden on Monday, not all members of his leadership team followed suit.
Clark, the No. 3 Democrat in the House, did not respond directly when asked whether Biden is the best person to articulate the party’s message ahead of the November elections — “we’re going to continue to have conversations about that,” she said — and an omission that is raising eyebrows about your favorite strategy.
“We support the work we’ve done under this president,” she said.
Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.), vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, also did not respond to questions about Biden’s viability as a candidate, deferring to his weekly press conference on Tuesday.
Other Democrats also express skepticism about Biden’s position at the top of the ticket.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told reporters she is “continuing to listen” to the group’s lawmakers, but said members need to see the president “in impromptu situations” as they weigh the issue. whether or not to keep him as the party’s candidate.
“He’s our nominee right now and I don’t — I don’t believe that public conversations that … harm our nominee are necessarily a good thing,” she added. “I think private conversations are important.”
Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) said she is “supporting the president” but added that she is “clear-eyed about the challenge ahead.”
“I’m talking to our leadership, I’m talking to the campaign, I’m talking to the administration, and most importantly, I’m talking to my constituents, and they’re pretty divided,” she continued.
As the debate rages on and opposition becomes more vocal, all sides agree that this is not the fight Democrats want to fight four months before the November elections.
“There are a lot of conversations going on, but at the end of the day, if the president is running, he is our candidate,” said Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.). “And we won’t help win this election if we’re all divided.”
Bera said he was encouraged by recent steps Biden took to salvage his image after the debate, including a scathing letter he sent to Democrats in Congress on Monday morning, promising to stay in the race and urging them to unite. to support you.
“His letter was quite blunt,” Bera said. “And if that’s the case, let’s take that anger, let’s take that energy and let’s beat this thing.”
Others were even more critical of the critics. Vargas characterized the debate as “a circular firing squad.”
“What we have now is our own players facing our quarterback. And, yeah, you don’t win games when you face your own quarterback,” he said. “At the end of the day, if we lose, it won’t be Biden, it will be us.”
Aris Folley contributed.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
