Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is open to replacing Joe Biden as Democrats’ nominee amid concerns about the president’s mental acuity and ability to win re-election, Axios reports.
The New York Democrat is privately signalling his concern to donors, Axios said, citing three people familiar with the matter. He has publicly stood by Biden even as other senators have expressed concerns about Biden leading the party’s ticket.
“I’m for Joe,” Schumer curtly told Bloomberg News, reiterating his catchphrase this week, when asked about the Axios report. He didn’t comment further.
The Biden campaign didn’t immediately respond to a message left for comment. A Schumer spokesperson declined to comment.
Schumer invited senior Biden campaign advisers to come to the Capitol on Thursday to brief senators and directly address their outstanding concerns.
Taken alongside new calls Wednesday for the president to step aside – delivered by Democratic lawmakers and Hollywood donors – the Senate meeting underscores how perilous Biden’s political position remains.
While the president so far has avoided a jailbreak among influential party members that might make his continued candidacy impossible, allies remain deeply concerned about his campaign’s viability and the risk it poses to other elected Democrats.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier Wednesday said on MSNBC that Biden should quickly decide whether to stay in the race, even though Biden sent a letter to lawmakers Monday saying he has decided to do so.
In an interview with CNN on Tuesday evening, Democratic Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado said that he told colleagues in a meeting earlier that he doesn’t think Biden can defeat Trump.
Bennet on Wednesday said he’s “looking forward” to the meeting with the Biden campaign officials.
“We should have had it 10 days ago,” he said.
