Top Democrats Urge Representatives to Convince Biden to Step Down

Top Democratic lawmakers are deeply concerned about President Joe Biden’s poor performance in his debate against his rival, former President Donald Trump. Former President Barack Obama has become “more pessimistic” about Biden’s chances of winning against Donald Trump, and Obama has privately said that Biden’s path has become more difficult after his shaky performance in Thursday’s debate. Some lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, are privately pushing Biden to step down, Axios reported. They say the president could hurt their chances of holding the Senate or flipping the House if he loses the election in November.

Several members said they were angry that the 81-year-old president was dragging his feet in reaching out to Democratic leaders.

“I don’t know who’s making the decisions,” said one House Democrat. “Why isn’t Biden on the phone with the congressional leadership? Everyone now thinks he could cost us the majority.”

A source in the House Democratic leadership told Axios that Biden has not contacted Jeffries. Biden has “spoken personally with multiple elected officials in Congress and across battleground states since the debate,” said Lauren Hitt, a Biden campaign spokeswoman.

Lawmakers privately trade stories of Biden’s mental and physical decline, certain that Biden’s family does not want him to face skeptics, even if they are friends.

The stakes of maintaining a Senate majority and retaking the House are now existential for many Democrats after Biden’s disastrous debate performance, with a White House official saying, “Everyone is panicking.”

Multiple sources say top Democratic donors are now planning to funnel significant amounts of money to House and Senate candidates as a hedge against a second Trump term, which they see as increasingly likely. Top Democrats are watching to see if any of the blue-leaning states, including Minnesota, start to swing in Trump’s favor, and anecdotally, Democrats say the answer is yes.

Even if Biden stays in office, “he would at least need to show a decisive change of course by replacing his top campaign advisers,” one Democratic lawmaker told Axios. But that would satisfy few and would change nothing about Biden’s age and his concerns about it.

“Since Biden’s first commitment has always been to our country, not to himself, I hope he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw,” Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett, 77, said in a statement.

On the other hand, former President Barack Obama told allies who communicated with him privately that President Joe Biden’s already difficult path to reelection has become even more difficult after his shaky debate performance on Thursday, a harsher assessment of the presidential race than his public comments, according to several people familiar with his remarks.

Obama spoke separately to Biden by phone after Thursday’s debate to offer his support for his embattled former vice president, the sources told The Washington Post. It’s unclear how directly Obama addressed Biden’s performance and path to reelection in the call.