Biden's candidacy faces new peril, including first Senate Democrat saying he should exit race
UNB
Publish: 11 Jul 2024, 04:19 PM
WASHINGTON,
July 11 (AP/UNB) - President Joe Biden's imperiled reelection campaign hit new
trouble Wednesday as House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said merely "it's
up to the president to decide" if he should stay in the race, celebrity
donor George Clooney said he should not run and Democratic senators and
lawmakers expressed fresh fear about his ability to beat Republican Donald
Trump.
Late in the evening,
Vermont Sen. Peter Welch called on Biden to withdraw from the election,
becoming the first Senate Democrat to do so. Welch said he is worried because
"the stakes could not be higher."
The sudden flurry of
grave pronouncements despite Biden's determined insistence he is not leaving
the 2024 race put on public display just how unsettled the question remains
among prominent Democrats. On Capitol Hill, an eighth House Democrat, Rep. Pat
Ryan of New York, and later a ninth, Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, publicly
asked Biden to step aside.
"I want him to do
whatever he decides to do," Pelosi said Wednesday on MSNBC's "Morning
Joe" rather than declaring Biden should stay in. While Biden has said
repeatedly that he's made his decision, she said, "We're all encouraging
him to make that decision, because time is running short."
It's a crucial moment
for the president and his party, as Democrats consider what was once
unthinkable - having the incumbent Biden step aside, just weeks before the
Democratic National Convention that is on track to nominate him as their
candidate for reelection.
Biden is hosting world
leaders in Washington for the NATO summit this week with a crowded schedule of
formal meetings, sideline chats and long diplomatic dinners, all opportunities
to showcase he is up for the job despite a worrisome performance last month in
the first presidential debate with Trump.
His party at a
crossroads, Biden faces the next tests Thursday - in public, at a scheduled
news conference that many Democrats will be watching for signs of his
abilities, and privately, as his top advisers meet with the Senate Democratic
caucus to discuss their concerns and shore up support.
Welch said in a
Washington Post opinion piece published Wednesday evening, "We cannot
unsee President Biden's disastrous debate performance."
The first-term senator
said Vermonters love Biden and he was calling on the president to withdraw from
the race "with sadness."
To be sure, Biden
maintains strong support from key corners of his coalition, particularly some
in the Congressional Black Caucus on Capitol Hill, whose leadership was
instrumental in ushering the president to victory in 2020 and is standing by
him as the country's best choice to defeat Trump again in 2024.
"At this moment,
the stakes are too high and we have to focus," Rep. Ilhan Omar of
Minnesota told The Associated Press earlier in the week, saying Democrats are
"losing ground" the longer they fight over Biden's candidacy.
"Democracy is on the line. Everything we value as Democrats, as a country,
is on the line, and we have to stop being distracted."
Pelosi has been widely
watched for signals of how top Democrats are thinking about Biden's wounded
candidacy, her comments viewed as important for the party's direction as
members weigh possible alternatives in the campaign against Trump.
Because of her powerful
position as the former House speaker and proximity to Biden as a trusted
longtime ally of his generation, Pelosi is seen as one of the few Democratic
leaders who could influence the president's thinking.
The lack of a full
statement from Pelosi backing Biden's continued campaign is what lawmakers are
likely to hear most clearly, even as she told ABC later she believes he can
win. Her remarks came as actor Clooney, who had just hosted a glitzy Hollywood
fundraiser for the president last month, said in a New York Times op-ed that
the Biden he saw three weeks ago wasn't the Joe Biden of 2020. "He was the
same man we all witnessed at the debate."
Democrats have been
reeling over whether to continue backing Biden after his poor showing in the
June 27 debate and his campaign's lackluster response to their pleas that
Biden, at 81, show voters he is ready for another four-year term.
Sen. Michael Bennet, a
Democrat from Colorado, spoke forcefully late Tuesday about the danger of a
second Trump presidency and said it's for the president "to consider"
the options.
Stopping just short of
calling for Biden to drop out, Bennet said on CNN what he told his colleagues
in private - that he believes Trump "is on track to win this election --
and maybe win it by a landslide and take with him the Senate and the
House."
Bennet said, "It's
not a question about politics. It's a moral question about the future of our
country."
By Wednesday, Democratic
Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said he was "deeply concerned"
about Biden winning the election, which he called existential for the country.
"We have to reach a
conclusion as soon as possible," Blumenthal said on CNN.
And Sen. Tim Kaine of
Virginia told reporters: "I have complete confidence that Joe Biden will
do the patriotic thing for the country. And he's going to make that
decision."
Biden and his campaign
are working more intently now to shore up support, and the president met with
labor leaders Wednesday, relying on the unions to help make the case that his
record in office matters more than his age.
Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer invited Biden's campaign to address senators' concerns, and
redoubled his backing of the president. "As I have made clear repeatedly
publicly and privately, I support President Biden and remain committed to
ensuring Donald Trump is defeated in November," he said.
The president's team is
sending senior Biden advisers Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti, and Campaign
Chair Jen O'Malley Dillon to meet with Democratic senators privately Thursday
for a caucus lunch, according to both a Senate leadership aide and the Biden
campaign.
There were some
concerns, however, that it could backfire. One Democratic senator who requested
anonymity to speak about the closed-door meeting said it could be a waste of
time if Biden would not make the case to senators himself.
Pelosi said Biden
"has been a great president" who is beloved and respected by House
Democrats. The Californian said she watched as he delivered a forceful speech
at the NATO summit Tuesday, and she recounted his many accomplishments.
While foreign leaders
are in Washington this week and Biden is on the world stage hosting the event
at a critical time in foreign affairs, Pelosi encouraged Democrats to
"let's just hold off" with any announcements about his campaign.
"Whatever you're
thinking, either tell somebody privately but you don't have to put that out on
the table until we see," she said, how it goes "this week."
END/UNB/AP/PR