President Joe Biden continues to insist he doesn’t have any plans to drop out of the presidential race. Only divine intervention or a not-yet-diagnosed medical condition could make him withdraw from the race, the president said on separate occasions.
Still, reports say Biden could drop out any day — but his campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, insisted otherwise.
“He’s our nominee and he’s going to be our president for a second term,” she said Friday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” Dillon added it’s been a “hard week” for the campaign, but said Biden will be “back on the trail next week.”
But his performance after the presidential debates and in television interviews led to deep concerns in the Democratic Party about Biden’s ability to win against Republican nominee Donald Trump, as well his ability to serve another four years.
Biden faces increasing pressure to exit race
Top Democratic leaders and donors have reportedly held private meetings with Biden to relay these concerns and to try to persuade him to drop out.
In conversation with others, former President Barack Obama has highlighted that Biden’s path to victory has diminished and that Biden is struggling against Trump in polls, while Democratic donors are closing their wallets, as The Washington Post reported.
Billionaire Michael Moritz, a Democratic megadonor, said in a statement Friday, “Sadly, President Biden has a choice — vanity or virtue.”
“He can either condemn the country to dark and cruel times or heed the voice of Father Time. The clock has run out,” said Moritz, adding he “would vote for Biden, but I would not give another penny to any fund-raising appeals from Democrats.”
As of Friday, at least 27 Democratic U.S. representatives and three senators had joined in urging Biden to end his bid for reelection.
Reps. Jared Huffman of California, Marc Veasey of Texas, Chuy Garcia of Illinois and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin joined this list Friday after making a joint public statement.
“We believe the most responsible and patriotic thing you can do in this moment is to step aside as our nominee while continuing to lead our party from the White House,” the statement said.
“Democrats have a deep and talented bench of younger leaders, led by Vice President Kamala Harris, who you have lifted up, empowered, and prepared for this moment.”
Biden’s campaign and AOC defend the president against mounting pressure
As his party reconciles with whether Biden’s exiting the presidential ticket is a good idea during a stormy time, the president is self-isolating after being diagnosed with COVID-19. According to the White House physician Friday, Biden has a cough and is being treated with Paxlovid.
Reports from Thursday suggested Biden would drop out by the weekend. But White House spokesperson Andrew Bates denied Biden’s plans to leave the Democratic ticket, saying, “That is not happening, period. The individuals making those claims are not speaking for his family or his team and they will be proven wrong. Keep the faith.”
Lawmakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said it’s the elites pushing Biden out.
“If you think that there is consensus among the people who want Joe Biden to leave that they will support Vice President Harris, you would be mistaken,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a live stream on Instagram, as The Hill reported. “They’re not going to be fully honest, but I’m going to be honest for them.”
“I’m in these rooms. I see what they say in conversations,” she continued. “I’m here to tell you that a huge amount of the donor class and a huge amount of these elites and a huge amount of these folks in these rooms that I see that are pushing for President Biden to not be the nominee also are not interested in seeing the vice president being the nominee.”
She admitted Biden is old, but said so is Trump, his opponent.
“A lot of people don’t love that we have the same exact match-up all over again, which is to say that the debate didn’t change much at all,” Ocasio-Cortez. “It didn’t really change a lot in terms of people’s perceptions, in terms of where the electorate is at and going into the debate.”