President Joe Biden speaks at the NAACP Convention, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. (Adam Schultz/White House/Zuma Press Wire/TNS)
WASHINGTON — President Biden is “absolutely” in the race for a second term, his campaign leader said Friday, just as four more Democratic lawmakers called on Biden to leave the contest.
Rep. Jared Huffman of San Rafael authored a joint statement with Reps. Marc Veasey of Texas, Chuy Garcia of Illinois and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin urging him to “face the reality that widespread public concerns about your age and fitness are jeopardizing what should be a winning campaign.”
“These perceptions may not be fair, but they have hardened in the aftermath of last month’s debate and are now unlikely to change,” the statement says.
Huffman has been urging Biden and other Democrats to consider the issue for weeks, and to delay the official nominating process, but had not specifically called on Biden to exit until Friday. There has been speculation that Biden might leave the race on his own, but many lawmakers who have expressed private doubt about his prospects are expected to go public if he does not.
The group of lawmakers who went public is significant because they come from factions of the party that have largely stuck with Biden: Huffman is a leading progressive; Veasey is the first member of the Congressional Black Caucus to urge Biden out of the race; Garcia is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which has also sided with keeping Biden in the race.
The statement does not specify a replacement or a process for finding one but gives a nod to Biden’s running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris. Democrats have been divided over whether to hold an open process or anoint Harris in the event Biden drops out.
“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,” the statement continues. “Passing the torch would fundamentally change the trajectory of the campaign.”
Biden and his team remain steadfast publicly that he will stay in the race, arguing he has the best chance of winning.
“We’re looking at polling. We’re seeing ... what a lot of people are seeing, of course,” said Biden’s campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon, on “Morning Joe.” “But we’re also looking at a lot of numbers that matter, which is what is happening on the ground.”
Dillon said the campaign is built for a close race and that opinions of the Republican nominee, former President Trump, are “hardened.” She argued that Trump would not gain voters concerned about Biden; Democrats simply need to win them back by knocking on doors and other organizing efforts.
She said Biden, who has had no events since a COVID-19 diagnosis late Wednesday, would return to the campaign trail next week.
“We know that we’ve slipped a bit from the debate,” she said, referring to Biden’s dismal performance last month that set off Democratic concerns. “And we know that the president has to prove to the American people exactly what he believes, that he’s in this to win, that he can do this.”
Biden has been under extreme pressure to leave the race, intensifying this week as party leaders see national and swing state polling that make his path to victory look dire. Multiple reports have suggested he could leave the race this weekend. Polls show large majorities of voters, including Democrats, would also like him to withdraw from the campaign.
Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, considered the most politically vulnerable Democrat in the Senate, called for a change at the top of the ticket Thursday night, just as Trump was accepting his party’s nomination.
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