The drumbeat of pressure on US President Joe Biden to drop out of the White House race intensified on Wednesday with a bombshell report in The New York Times that he had conceded the possibility to a key ally, as well as movement within his own party to demand his withdrawal.
The White House and Biden’s campaign quickly denied the Times report suggesting the president had vocalised to a supporter that he could ill-afford another misstep that would irrevocably damage his campaign.
But time is running out for the beleaguered president to convince anxious Democratic officials, donors and voters that he remains viable in his effort to keep former US president Donald Trump from returning to office.
In another blow, dozens of Democratic lawmakers are considering signing a letter demanding Biden withdraw from the race, a senior party official said.
That anxiety has only been fuelled by a flood of recent reporting suggesting other Democrats are eyeing possible replacement candidates – and by the Times reporting.
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US presidential debate: Biden and Trump spar over economy, war in Ukraine
US presidential debate: Biden and Trump spar over economy, war in Ukraine
Biden told his ally the race would be in a “different place” if coming events went poorly, the Times reported. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre subsequently said Biden had flatly denied making such a comment to her, and was not considering dropping out of the race.
Biden plans to sit for an interview with ABC News on Friday, and hold a rally in Madison, Wisconsin. On Sunday, he will travel to Philadelphia for another campaign event. He also plans interviews with black radio stations in Philadelphia and Milwaukee to coincide with his travel.
Biden has been calling senior Democratic lawmakers – including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries – in a bid to shore up support on Capitol Hill, even as members of his party are publicly expressing dismay about his campaign.
So far, only two sitting House Democrats – Lloyd Doggett of Texas and Raul Grijalva of Arizona – have publicly called for Biden to step aside. But the president may not be able to survive a coordinated revolt among Democratic lawmakers worried that his poor performance could cost them seats or a shot at control of the House and Senate in the coming election.
Jean-Pierre said Biden had told her the calls with congressional Democrats were “strong”.
“He’s moving forward as being president. He’s moving forward with his campaign,” she added.
The president will also need to navigate a hastily arranged meeting Wednesday evening with Democratic governors, many of whom are at the centre of speculation about possibly replacing him on the ticket.
Some nationally prominent governors with extensive fundraising networks like California’s Gavin Newsom, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, Maryland’s Wes Moore and Illinois’s JB Pritzker will head to the White House for the crisis meeting in person, while others will join virtually.
Newsom told donors he would “stand with” Biden at the meeting and attend campaign events to support him following the gathering.
“I understand that folks are anxious right now,” Newsom said in a fundraising appeal.
Other recent reports have also spurred speculation among Democratic allies. On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that former US president Barack Obama had privately conveyed to allies that Biden’s path to re-election was more challenging following his debate performance.
Reuters published a new poll showing US Vice-President Kamala Harris – the most likely successor if Biden were to step aside – trailing Trump, the Republican candidate, by a single point.
Momentum behind the vice-president, who could take over the campaign’s sizeable war chest, has gathered in recent days. Harris and Biden planned to have lunch together Wednesday afternoon.
A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll in May showed Harris gaining trust among swing-state voters, 48 per cent of whom say she is ready to assume the duties of the presidency if Biden were unable to continue.
The Leadership Now Project, a group of business leaders who had organised to counter what they saw as threats to democracy during the last Trump administration, called for Biden to cede his place as the Democratic nominee.
“This process will undoubtedly be messy and is not without risk,” the group said in a statement. “However, the stakes are too high not to act.”
In Wilmington, Delaware, staff at Biden’s campaign headquarters received an email from campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez and chair Jen O’Malley Dillon saying the campaign would increase its cadence of all-staff calls and emails to better coordinate.
Biden and Harris joined one such call with the national campaign staff on Wednesday, with the president vowing to stay in the race and win, according to a person familiar with the call.
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients held a similar all-hands meeting with staff there on Wednesday, imploring them to keep their heads held high and continue executing on their responsibilities while acknowledging Biden “didn’t have a great night”.
“People are looking for chatter,” he said, according to a recording of the call obtained by Bloomberg. “Tune it out.”
The campaign’s memo asked staff to emphasise the “full picture” of Biden’s support, downplaying recent polls that have shown a noticeable tilt toward Trump.
“Polls are a snapshot in time and we should all expect them to continue to fluctuate – it will take a few weeks, not a few days, to get a full picture of the race,” the pair wrote.
Part of that effort included sending a memo to congressional staff stressing that polls remained within the margin of error, and the campaign’s belief that a bad showing in the coming weeks did not actually indicate “a reshaping of the race”.
A New York Times/Siena College poll released Wednesday, though, found Trump’s lead over Biden had grown to six points, 49 per cent to 43 per cent, with nearly three-quarters of voters saying the Democratic president is too old for the job.
South Carolina Democrat Jim Clyburn, a leading Biden supporter who spoke with the president on Wednesday, told CNN he wants to see the president in “town hall type” events now and performing there would calm some fears.
