President Joe Biden found himself further cornered Friday by a growing number of Democrats calling for his resignation, as his family reportedly began looking for a way for him to end his reelection bid.
Among the new Biden skeptics are Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), who joined Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) as the only four senators so far to call on Biden to step down. Tester and Brown both hail from states where then-President Donald Trump defeated Biden by wide margins, and they face the toughest reelection bids of any Democratic senator. Heinrich is seeking his third term in the upper chamber and is running for a much safer seat.
In the House of Representatives, at least 30 Democrats, or more than 13% of the caucus, have now decisively called for Biden to pass the torch. A third of those calls for Biden to step down came on Friday, tripling the number of Biden defectors in a single day. Others have expressed serious concerns about his ability to beat Trump or even do his job.
Four people signed a joint letter Friday saying perceptions about the president’s age have damaged his campaign too much for him to continue.
“These perceptions may not be accurate, but they have hardened in the wake of last month’s debate and are now unlikely to change,” wrote Reps. Marc Veasey (D-TX), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Mark Pocan (D-WI), and Jared Huffman.
The statement feels a bit like a dam burst. Veasey was the first member of the Congressional Black Caucus, a group that has been one of Biden’s most vocal supporters, to call on the president to pass the torch. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM), whose swing state district is particularly threatened by Biden’s top ticket, also joined the fray Friday afternoon. Vasquez and Garcia are members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and made their statements the same day that the CHC’s political arm issued an endorsement of Biden that had been planned ahead of his disastrous debate.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), an ally of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, also called on Biden to drop his candidacy in a letter released Thursday and published Friday.
“I want to make it clear that if you officially become the Democratic nominee for President, I will do everything in my power to promote your candidacy and work towards your success,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, I highly doubt the outcome will be positive and our country will pay a high price for it.”
Reps. Sean Casten (D-IL), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Betty McCollum (D-MN) and Kathy Castor (D-FL) also called on Biden to step down. Their moves follow Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA)’s decision to do the same Thursday night.
The pressure campaign against Biden was briefly halted after an assassination attempt on Trump last weekend. But it resumed Wednesday when Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), another Pelosi ally, urged the president to step down. Reports have since leaked suggesting that Pelosi was working behind the scenes against Biden, along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Vice President Kamala Harris told donors on a call Friday afternoon that the ticket would remain intact, CNBC reported. The president, meanwhile, has been sidelined in Rehoboth Beach while he recovers from COVID. His doctor wrote in a letter Friday that his symptoms had improved.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), a Biden ally, said Friday at the Aspen Security Forum that the president is “weighing” the best candidate to win in November.
“I’m confident he’s hearing what he needs to hear from his colleagues, from the public, from the people,” Coons said.
But Biden’s own statement on Friday made it seem as if nothing he said changed his mind.
“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,” he wrote.
The Bidens discussed options for the president to step down and give the party the best chance of defeating Donald Trump, two sources told NBC News. They discussed the impact of the campaign on his health, his family and the future of the nation, and the need for Biden to be able to make an announcement when he wants.
Discussions within the first family would necessarily include the president’s wife, first lady Jill Biden, his son Hunter Biden and his sister, Valerie Owens, a longtime political adviser to her brother.
Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon insisted on MSNBC Friday that Joe in the morning Biden would become the party’s official nominee ahead of the party convention next month. The president later released a statement that did not specify whether he would be the nominee but said he would campaign to defeat Trump.
“I look forward to returning to the campaign trail next week to continue to expose the threat posed by 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,” the president said.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates denied NBC’s report, saying: “That is not the case, period. The people making these statements do not speak for his family or his team, and they will be proven wrong. Keep the faith.”
Faced with growing concerns about his age and mental acuity, Biden’s candidacy has been in jeopardy in the weeks since his debate fiasco with Trump. He has repeatedly insisted that he is the party’s nominee and will not step down unless “Almighty God” tells him to.
Biden has been confined to his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, since announcing Wednesday that he had tested positive for COVID. The White House has not scheduled any public events as reports suggest his time in the race is running out.
The president said in an interview this week that he would consider dropping out of the race if he “suffered a medical condition.” A report from his doctor Thursday said he was experiencing only “mild” symptoms and that “his vital signs remained normal” because he was being treated with Paxlovid.
There are signs that the Bidens are not ready to give up yet.
The first lady is reportedly set to attend a fundraiser in Martha’s Vineyard for her husband on July 29, just days before the Democratic Party is set to nominate its candidate in a virtual roll call vote.
