WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama has expressed his personal concerns to Democrats. The candidacy of President Joe BidenAnd Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi privately warned Biden that if he doesn’t drop out of the 2024 race, Democrats could lose their ability to take control of the House.
Pelosi has shown that she can’t beat Biden Republican Donald TrumpAccording to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, insisted on discussing it.
Things to know about 2024 elections
With time racing, Democrats at the highest levels are making an important push Biden To review His re-election bidUnease is growing in the White House and within the campaign at a critical moment for the president and his party.
Biden insists he is not backing down and is confident he is the winning candidate Trump I will do it before and again. Pressed on reports that Biden might be soft on the idea of dropping out of the race, his deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said Thursday: “He’s not budging on anything.”
In recent days, the president has been more determined to stay in the race, according to another person familiar with the matter.
But influential Democrats from the highest levels of the party apparatus, including the Congressional leadership led by the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffreys, sending signals of concern. Some Democrats hope that during these few days of pause, Biden will assess the course of the race and his legacy.
Using mountains of data showing Biden’s position could destroy the ranks of Democrats in Congress, open conversations in public and private, and now it’s time for the president to get off the campaign trail. Tested positive for Covid-19Many Democrats see an opportunity to encourage reassessment.
If Democrats are seriously preparing for the unusual move of replacing Biden and replacing Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, this weekend could be critical to changing the president’s mind, people familiar with the private conversations said.
President Joe Biden walks to his car after disembarking from Air Force One at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
It’s now or never ahead of a planned virtual roll call in early August to suggest the party’s choice, one said, ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
In the past week, both Schumer and Jeffries, who are from New York, have spoken privately with the president and candidly expressed the views of Democrats on Capitol Hill, including their concerns.
Separately, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Washington’s representative. Suzanne Delphine spoke with Biden last week with the new data. The campaign chief aired the concerns of leading Democrats seeking election to the Lok Sabha.
And on Wednesday, California Rep. Adam SchiffA close associate PelosiBiden called for dropping his re-election bid, saying he believed it was “time to pass the torch.”
Biden, in a radio interview taped shortly before testing positive for Covid-19, dismissed the notion that his political recovery was too late, telling Univision’s Luis Sandoval that it was still early and that many people were not paying attention to the election. September.
“All the talk about who’s leading and where and how, you know — everything that’s ever been between Trump and me has been basically equal,” he said in a portion of the interview released Thursday morning.
Some national polls show a close race, while others show Trump ahead. And there are warning signs in some state polls, including a recent New York Times/Sienna poll suggesting a competitive race in Virginia.
Some of the tensions about Biden’s ability to run a successful campaign have subsided, especially since then Trump assassination attempt And so on Republican National Convention As was happening in Milwaukee, Democrats know they have little time to resolve party tensions after the president’s botched debate show last month.
Of course, many Democrats want Biden to stay in the race. And the Democratic National Committee is pushing forward with a plan A virtual vote to officially make Biden the nominee In the first week of August, earlier Democratic National Convention It begins on August 19 in Chicago.
Late Wednesday, ABC News reported new details about Biden’s private meeting with Schumer over the weekend at the president’s beach home in Delaware. It said Schumer told the president “it would be good for the Democrats and good for the country if he bows out.”
A Schumer spokesman called the report “pure speculation.” Chairman Schumer delivered his caucus comments directly to President Biden on Saturday.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Biden told Schumer and Jeffries, “He is the party’s nominee, he plans to win, and we look forward to working with both of them to accomplish his 100-day agenda to help working families.”
But among Democrats nationwide, nearly two-thirds say Biden should step aside and that his party should nominate another candidate. New AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. It sharply undercuts Biden’s post-debate claim that “average Democrats” are still with him despite some “big names” turning on him.
The White House said Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling in Las Vegas on Wednesday and is experiencing “mild symptoms” from the infection, including “general malaise.”
The president, who has been campaigning for the past several days, was already scheduled to return to his Delaware Beach home before the diagnosis.
Schiff’s announcement brings to nearly 20 the number of Democratic members of Congress calling on Biden. He should withdraw from the presidential election In his background Poor debate performance Against Trump last month.
By bowing out, Schiff said, Biden would “protect his leadership legacy by allowing him to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.”
Schiff is a prominent Democrat, and his report will also be watched because of his proximity. Pelosi.
Pelosi is He revived questions about Biden After the debate, he said recently that “it’s up to the president” to decide what to do — even though Biden has already made it clear he has no intention of stepping aside. The former House speaker publicly supports the president, but has questioned what’s next from Democrats since debate night.
In response to Schiff’s comments, the Biden campaign pointed to “broad support” for him and his re-election bid from members of Congress in key swing states and the Congressional Black and Hispanic caucuses. The campaign noted that Biden was joined by nearly a dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus on his trip to Nevada this week.
AP Washington reporter Sagar Meghani reports that President Biden is self-isolating at his Delaware Beach home after testing positive for COVID-19 while traveling in Las Vegas.
However, Schiff’s announcement came after Schumer and Jeffries encouraged the party to delay a week of holding a virtual vote to renominate Biden, which could have happened as soon as Sunday, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke about the situation. Anonymous to discuss private conversations.
The Democratic National Committee’ s rulemaking arm is set on Friday to discuss how the virtual voting plans will work and finalize them next week.
“We will not be implementing an expedited virtual voting process, although we will consider how a virtual voting process would work,” said Bishop Leah D. Daughtry and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walls co-chaired the rules committee. Democratic National Convention wrote in a letter Wednesday.
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Associated Press writers Mary Claire Jalonik and Leah Askarinum contributed to this report.
