REHOBOTH, DEL. — President Biden held a “tense” call with centrist House lawmakers on Saturday as he struggles to stem the flow of lawmakers calling on him to step aside from the 2024 ticket.
A source on the Zoom call with members of the centrist New Democratic Coalition described it as “tense” and said lawmakers felt “really dismayed” by the president’s presentation and lack of strategy, and felt he was not prepared for the questions that were asked. The source characterized Biden’s responses to questions as incoherent.
The source said the most notable exchange occurred when Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) referred to voters’ concerns about Biden being “in charge when they go to sleep at night.” At that point, the source added, “Biden destroyed him.”
“The trade with Jason Crow was tough to watch,” the source said.
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) asked a question after Crow, the source said, which Biden interrupted at one point. The president then told the members that he should go to mass at around 5:02 p.m.
The president held calls with lawmakers from his beach house in Rehoboth, Del. The Mass the president attended in Rehoboth was at 5:30 p.m., and he left home at 5:36 p.m. to attend.
Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (D-N.H.), chair of the New Democratic Coalition, which is made up of about 100 lawmakers, said the group “had a frank, respectful and productive conversation with the president about how to win over dissatisfied voters and increase participation in swing districts.”
“As majority makers, we are united around our goal of winning back the House and ask the President to focus on the future and reassure voters about Democrats’ ability to win in November,” Kuster said in a statement.
“Moving forward, we hope President Biden will do everything in his power to demonstrate to the American people that Democrats will keep the White House and flip the House in November,” she added.
Biden’s call with the New Democratic Coalition was one of a series of conversations he had with groups of lawmakers on Capitol Hill as he tried to drum up support for his re-election campaign following last month’s poor debate performance.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) traveled to Rehoboth to meet with Biden on Saturday, the senator said in a statement. Schumer described the meeting as “good.”
Additionally, before the conference call with the New Democrat Coalition, Biden spoke with members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He asked for help and advice and joked that he has a “major” Supreme Court reform policy in the works, according to a familiar source.
Eighteen House Democrats have publicly called on Biden to withdraw as the nominee, while several others have expressed concerns about his ability to defeat Trump in November.
He spoke Friday with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) in meetings organized by each group’s campaign arm. And he spoke with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.) on Thursday night.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
