Top congressional Democrats are set to meet to discuss President Biden’s reelection campaign, despite Biden himself appearing defiant amid calls for him to drop out of the race.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) will host a virtual meeting with Democratic leaders on Sunday where leaders will discuss the Biden campaign’s next steps, NBC News reported, confirmed by Fox News.
A person familiar with the matter told Fox News that the meeting will be attended by Jeffries and senior Democratic Party members, but will not include all Democrats.
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On the left is House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and on the right is President Biden. (Getty Images)
The meeting came after Biden’s 22-minute interview with ABC News on Friday, which his campaign hoped would allay concerns that the president doesn’t have the firepower to keep the campaign going and defeat former President Donald Trump in December. But the interview sparked new anxiety among Democrats already concerned by Biden’s dismal performance in last week’s debate.
“While Biden certainly looked better and more consistent than he did in the debate, there was nothing in this interview to calm the nerves of Democrats who are worried that Joe Biden is on track to lose this race to Donald Trump,” ABC News Washington bureau chief Jonathan Karl said after the interview.
But Biden struck a defiant tone, saying he would not withdraw unless “God almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the election.'”
But many Democrats seem unconvinced, fearing a lackluster performance from Biden, the leading Democratic candidate, could lead to the party losing seats.
President Biden caught people’s attention when, in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, he said he wasn’t sure if he had watched the debate performance. (Screenshot/ABC)
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The meeting of House committee leaders scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. is not part of the regularly scheduled meeting of Democratic caucuses, NBC reported. Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is planning to organize a meeting of Democratic senators next week to discuss Biden’s chances and the possible impact on lower-level races.
While some Democrats have privately expressed concerns about the president’s electability, a growing number are publicly calling for Biden to step aside.
Meanwhile, Biden defenders like Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) are urging others not to panic. “I can’t think of a single example where panicking or panicking has made a situation better,” Fetterman told NBC News.
Senator John Fetterman (Democrat, Pennsylvania) (Photographer: Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“He’s the only person ever to beat Trump,” Fetterman said of Biden.
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
