President Joe Biden defiantly vowed on Wednesday to keep running for reelection, rejecting growing pressure from within his Democratic Party to withdraw after a disastrous debate performance raised questions about his readiness. He said he would not be forced from the race.
“I am running. I am the leader of the Democratic Party. No one is pushing me out,” Biden said, according to a top aide who posted his comment on the X social media platform.
Biden and Harris made a surprise appearance on a Democratic National Committee call, according to three people familiar with the matter who were given anonymity to discuss the private conversation. The people said it was a pep talk, stressing the stakes of the election and returning to Biden’s previous post-debate comments that he would get back up after being knocked down.
It was one of several efforts by the president and his top aides to try to calm increasing anxiety among his allies on Capitol Hill and at top levels of his party.
Democrats are unsatisfied with the explanations of Biden’s debate performance, from both White House staff and Biden himself. And there is a deeper frustration among some Democrats who feel Biden should have handled questions about his stumbling debate performance much sooner and that he has put them in a difficult position by staying in the race.
White House chief of staff Jeff Zients urged people during an earlier all-staff meeting Wednesday to tune out the “noise” and focus on the task of governing.
Even as Zients acknowledged that the days since the Atlanta matchup between Biden and Republican Donald Trump have been challenging, the chief of staff stressed to more than 500 White House aides on the call the accomplishments and the track record of the Democratic administration and said governing will only become more crucial once the campaign season heats up, particularly after the Fourth of July holiday, according to a White House official.
Biden himself began making personal outreach on his own, speaking privately with senior Democratic lawmakers such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Delaware Sen. Chris Coons and South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, according to a second White House official and others with knowledge of the conversations. Zients also spoke personally with Schumer and Clyburn earlier Wednesday.
On Capitol Hill, there is increasing anxiety with each day as Biden had been slow to reach out to top Democrats and rank-and-file members, according to people familiar with ongoing conversations.
Zients tried to rally the staff’s confidence in Biden’s reelection apparatus, noting that the president has a “strong campaign team” in place and that the White House’s job was to focus on continuing to implement Biden’s agenda. He also told staff that Biden has always made it through tough times, despite being counted out over his decades in public office.
The chief of staff also encouraged aides to “continue being a team” and, while acknowledging the increasing political chatter, to “tune it out” and stay disciplined, according to the official, who was granted anonymity to relay Zients’ private remarks. Zients also urged White House staff to ask questions and offer feedback.
Staff-wide White House calls aren’t unusual, but Wednesdays’ 15-minute check-in came as Biden and senior White House officials were working to assuage rattled lawmakers, donors and other allies within the party amid sharpening questions about whether the 81-year-old president had the competency to run for a second term in office.
A memo sent Wednesday by campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez insists the election between Biden and Trump will still be close, seeking to downplay the lasting effects of the debate.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were also scheduled to hold one of their sporadic lunches on Wednesday, and the president was planning on hosting an assortment of Democratic governors at the White House in the evening.
Among the Democratic governors who were planning to attend in person were Tim Walz of Minnesota, who leads the Democratic Governors Association, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Maura Healey of Massachusetts, Daniel McKee of Rhode Island, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Gavin Newsom of California, according to their aides. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy were planning on attending virtually.
President Joe Biden is “absolutely not” considering stepping down, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday as she responded to questions about the president’s mindset following his poor debate performance last week.
Democratic governors voiced support for Biden after meeting him and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House. Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota said he believed Biden was “fit for office” while Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland said “we’re going to have his back.”
On Tuesday, the president privately acknowledged the next stretch of days is critical to whether he can save his reelection bid, making clear to an ally that he understands what would prompt him to accept: “It’s just not working.”
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump had no campaign events but there continues to be activity related to his many legal battles. A Manhattan judge postponed Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case until September. The move underscores the far-reaching implications of Monday’s Supreme Court immunity ruling — and likely means he won’t face concrete punishment for his felony conviction this summer.
President Joe Biden’s interview with ABC News will now air as a “primetime special” on Friday evening at 8:00 p.m. ET, the network announced Wednesday evening.
The high-profile interview will be the first televised interview Biden is expected to participate in since his poor showing at last week’s CNN presidential debate and an opportunity for the president to show those calling for him to step aside ahead of the 2024 race that he is still up for the task.
The first clip will still air on “World News Tonight” on Friday evening. When the interview was first announced, it was not set to air in full until Sunday morning.
Biden will be interviewed by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on the campaign trail on Friday and ABC News says a transcript of the unedited interview will be made available on Friday too.
CNN’s MJ Lee reported earlier Wednesday that the president privately acknowledged the next stretch of days are critical (including the president’s interview with ABC) to whether he can save his reelection bid, making clear to an ally that he understands what would prompt him to accept: “It’s just not working.”
Biden’s last major interview was with David Muir in Normandy last month. He previously spoke to CNN’s Erin Burnett on May 8 and with Time magazine’s Massimo Calabresi on May 28.
The message from Democratic governors after their meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House is that the president is “in it to win it.”
“@JoeBiden is our nominee. He is in it to win it and I support him,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a post on social media.
“.@JoeBiden is in it to win it. The stakes this November could not be higher,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on social media, reiterating what she said outside of the White House after meeting with the president.
Nine governors attended the meeting in person, only three came out to speak to the media afterward – Hochul, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.
Some of the top Democrats in the House expressed their belief that President Joe Biden needs to step aside in a call with House Democratic leadership on Wednesday, a source familiar with the call told CNN.
Other Democrats raised concerns about the frenzy that could ensue if Biden did in fact step aside, the source added.
The call was led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and included Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and representatives from the House Democratic policy committee and powerful steering committee.
The point of the call, the source added, was to take stock of the pivotal moment the Democratic Party is in and make sure all perspectives are heard.
President Joe Biden “reiterated his determination” to defeat former President Donald Trump in November during his White House meeting with Democratic governors, the president’s reelection campaign said.
Every Democratic governor, except Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, participated in the meeting with Biden.
Britt Cudaback, Communications Director for Evers, said in a post on social media that the governor did not attend the White House meeting because he’s “focused on moving forward and winning Wisconsin.”
Wisconsin was a key state in Biden’s 2020 election victory and is a key state for the president in 2024 as well.
The Biden campaign dismissed the talk of a Democratic contingency plan on Wednesday, pointing to the president’s pledge to stay in the race.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom reiterated his support for President Joe Biden following a Democratic Governors meeting that he attended at the White House.
Newsom is hitting the trail on behalf of the Biden-Harris campaign headlining events in Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire over the Fourth of July holiday and weekend.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he believes that Joe Biden is fit for office after dozens of Democratic governors participated in a meeting with the president on Wednesday.
Source: Associated Press, CNN
