During discussions with campaign staff and talks with Democratic senators and governors on Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden promised to remain in the 2024 presidential race, despite calls for him to withdraw following his lacking debate performance the week before.
According to two sources familiar with the conversation, Biden called concerned members of his campaign staff and assured them that he was not leaving.
“No one is pushing me out. I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end,” Biden said in a separate email blast by his campaign, urging supporters to “pitch in a few bucks” to help defeat his Republican rival Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Following the faltering debate performance, the president met online and in person with 24 Democratic governors and the mayor of Washington, D.C., on Wednesday evening to convince them that he is capable of serving as the party’s standard-bearer.
Only three governors, the leaders of New York, Minnesota, and Maryland, met with media afterwards, vowing to support Biden following what they described as an honest discussion about his lacking performance in last week’s debate.
“The president has always had our backs. We’re going to have his back as well,” Maryland Governor Wes Moore said.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, leader of the Democratic Governors Association, said Biden’s Thursday night debate performance against former President Trump was bad, but he believed Biden was qualified for office.
Concerns about Biden’s age and mental acuity erupted during Thursday’s discussion with Trump, during which the president muttered under his breath, lost his line of thought at times, and even mentioned beating Medicare. The president claimed to be exhausted after two international visits, and the White House said he had a cold.
When asked Wednesday if Biden was considering stepping down, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre answered, “Absolutely not.”
Soon after she spoke, two national surveys indicated that Biden’s odds against Trump, who fired off a number of well-worn falsehoods throughout the debate, had weakened.
A Wall Street Journal poll saw Trump leading Biden by 48% to 42%, up one percentage point, while a New York Times/Siena poll found Trump’s advantage had grown by three points to 49% to 43%.
House Democrats, including Arizona’s Raúl Grijalva and Massachusetts’ Seth Moulton, urged Biden to withdraw from the campaign, citing his age as a hindrance.
“The unfortunate reality is that the status quo will most likely deliver us President Trump,” Moulton stated. “President Biden is not going to get younger.”
While the campaign has emphasised grassroots fundraising triumphs and held damage control meetings with contributors, Reed Hastings, a key Democratic Party supporter and co-founder of streaming platform Netflix, has called on Biden to stand down.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris has gathered support as a prospective replacement.
Dmitri Mehlhorn, an advisor to LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman, told Reuters that his team would “enthusiastically support a ticket led by our tough and savvy vice president if Biden were to step aside for any reason.”
Melhorn stated that Harris was the only credible national contender who had previously faced big criticism from Trump’s “Make America Great Again” supporters.
“We would lose Joe’s superpower brand, but we would gain other benefits and would still be competitive,” he said.
Democrats and donors anxious about Biden’s chances in the November election will pay special attention to an interview with ABC News, which is scheduled to run Friday during a campaign visit to Madison, Wisconsin.
The White House stated that Biden had met with Democratic leaders in Congress, including Democratic Representative Jim Clyburn, who played a key role in Biden’s 2020 victory.
Clyburn, who has previously stated that he would support Harris as the presidential candidate if Biden stepped down, told CNN on Wednesday that the party should organise a “mini-primary” if Biden stands down, becoming the first senior party member to speak openly about how replacing Biden as a candidate may work.
Some of the governors who met with Biden on Wednesday might be potential opponents if pressure on him to stand down grows, but many of them also advocate on Biden’s favour during the campaign.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear have all been considered as potential candidates for Biden.
(Source: Reuters)
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