The Biden campaign denies reports that President Biden may drop out of the 2024 presidential race, even though several other candidates are in the running. House Democrats have called on him to step down.
Mr. Biden’s campaign was defiant on Friday, issuing a memo, giving several interviews and holding an all-staff conference call reaffirming that he was still a candidate and aiming to emphasize “Project 2025“, the conservative project for a second term of Trump, and on the record of the Republican candidate.
“Absolutely, the president is in the race,” Biden campaign manager O’Malley Dillon said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “You’ve heard him say that over and over again,” she said, adding, “He is clearly, in our view … the best person to take on Donald Trump.”
“We see the way forward,” she said.
But Dan Kanninen, the Biden campaign’s key states director, conceded in a memo Friday that the campaign faces some obstacles, writing: “I’m not going to sugarcoat the state of the race: We have our work cut out for us to win in November.”
“We also have a huge opportunity and a clear path to victory if we listen to what voters on the ground are really paying attention to, if we focus on the issues that matter most to voters in key states,” he wrote. Kanninen said that while voters contacted by the campaign “consistently mention” Mr. Biden’s age, they still plan to support the president.
CBS News reported Thursday Two senior House Democrats believe Biden could drop out of the 2024 presidential race in three to five days, following a pressure campaign by top lawmakers in his own party, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has also spoken to the president, and her views are close to those of Jeffries and Schumer.
At the same time, vote published the same day by CBS News showed that former President Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination As of Thursday night, he held the largest national lead over Mr. Biden in the campaign So far, he has garnered 52% of the vote, compared to 47% for the president. He has increased his lead over Mr. Biden by one point in key states, 51% to 48%.
Dillon said Friday in a conference call with Biden’s former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh: “When you give me polls, I’m going to give you direct contact with voters.”
“The people the president hears from him are saying, ‘Stay in the race, keep fighting, we need you.’ Those voices will never be as loud as the people on television, but remember, people in our country don’t watch 24-hour news,” Dillon said on the call, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The president is taking calls and listening to arguments against him from his allies, which wasn’t exactly the case after his disastrous debate with Trump last month. Biden ally and Delaware senator Chris Coons said at an Aspen Institute event this week: “I’m confident that he’s hearing what he needs to hear from his colleagues, from the public, from the people.” Mr. Coons also said: “I think our president is assessing what he needs to assess, which is who is the best candidate to win in November and to advance the values and priorities of the Democratic Party in this campaign.”
The New York Times quoted a Nancy Pelosi ally as saying the former House speaker told Biden in a call that she had seen polls suggesting he couldn’t win. The president said he had polls that showed otherwise.
“Get Donilon on the phone,” Nancy Pelosi reportedly said. “Show me the polls.”
In an interview with CBS Mornings on Friday, deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks also said it was “not true” that Biden was withdrawing his candidacy this weekend. The campaign “continues to implement a strategy to win with him at the top of the ticket,” he added.
“All the calls and the anxiety come from a desire to defeat Donald Trump,” Fulks said.
“We’re not trying to minimize anything. President Biden is 81 years old… but again, I don’t think that’s where many American voters are placing their confidence in how they’re going to vote,” Fulks added.
Mr. Biden received some good news on Friday with the endorsement of BOLD PAC, the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
BOLD PAC President Linda Sánchez praised the Biden administration in a statement for its “unwavering commitment to Latinos” and said another Trump term “would be disastrous for the Latino community.”
“Latinos across the country will be the most affected by the consequences of a second Trump presidency,” she said. Sánchez predicted that Latino voters would be key in elections in California, New Mexico, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Nebraska.
The president continues to suffer from mild COVID symptoms and is recovering in Rehoboth, but in a statement responding to Trump’s speech at the convention On Thursday night, Mr. Biden said: “I look forward to returning to the campaign trail next week to continue to expose the threat of Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda while defending my own record and the vision I have for America: a vision in which we save our democracy, protect our rights and freedoms, and create opportunity for all.”
O’Malley Dillon said DNC delegates plan to move forward with their first virtual nomination plans, “and they’re sticking with the president.” The DNC is expected to formalize his appointment in a virtual roll call vote in August, ahead of the convention in Chicago later that month.
