In a key interview with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos on Friday, fresh off his disastrous debate defeat, President Biden was adamant about one thing in particular: He’s not going anywhere.
“If the Almighty God came down and said, ‘Joe, step aside,’ I would step aside,” Biden said. “The Almighty God is not going to come down.”
Behind the scenes, despite growing calls from Democrats for him to step down, Biden has remained steadfast, telling key allies he is the best candidate not only to beat former President Trump but to save our democracy. He says the evidence is in the past three and a half years, not to mention the 2020 campaign, which Trump’s surprise loss to Hillary Clinton in 2016 was a race Biden has told allies for years that he could have won.
Critics say Biden is leaving too much to chance, but Biden maintains the opposite: that handing the baton to another Democrat is a risky proposition.
“He understands where the voters and the American people stand and believes in his heart that he’s the guy who’s going to take action to help him win,” said one key Biden ally who has spoken to the president’s closest advisers. “He’s sticking to his guns.”
Those around Biden “understand the gravity of the situation they’re in, but they believe this will pass, just as others have passed,” one former administration official said.
Biden’s allies acknowledge the situation may become untenable, especially as Congress returns to Washington this week. At least four top House Democrats said privately by phone on Sunday that Biden should withdraw from the race.
According to sources, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, and Rep. Joseph Morrell (D-NY), the ranking member of the Administration Committee, all said Biden should resign.
The Democrats joined five other House members, as well as several editorial boards and prominent columnists, in calling on Biden to withdraw. David Axelrod, a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama who has frequently expressed doubts about Biden’s viability, said Sunday that “the president cannot win this election.”
“Just looking at the schedule and talking to people across the country, politicians across the country, it’s more likely he’s going to lose this election by a huge margin than he’s going to win it by a small margin,” Axelrod said on CNN. “And if the stakes are as high as he says they are, and I think they are, he really needs to think about what’s the right thing to do here.”
Biden aides say the president intends to stay the course and is taking the same approach he did in the 2020 primaries, when he suffered early losses and everyone had given up on him.
“He remembers what happened and how it unfolded, better than anybody,” one longtime Biden aide said, “and how many of them disrespected us.”
Steve Scheer, a longtime ally of the president and Democratic strategist who worked with Obama on his Florida campaign, called Biden “one of the most significant presidents, no, one of the most significant presidents that I’ve had in my lifetime.”
“Without taking into account his age, no one would argue that he should withdraw from this election,” he said.
In addition to the breadth of his experience, Scheer said there are practical considerations to keep in mind: “There are 120 days until the election, and launching a new campaign in that time is really tough.”
“This is not about managing a fantasy political team, and this is not an episode of ‘The West Wing,'” Scheer said.
Over the weekend, the Biden campaign and its allies pointed to a Bloomberg poll showing the president leading Trump in the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin, and the poll also showed Biden within the margin of error in states including Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.
Biden came under criticism from Democrats last week for making few campaign appearances, but he is seeking to fight back against his supporters, speaking in Wisconsin on Friday and Pennsylvania on Sunday.
“We want Dark Brandon back,” one woman said while speaking to supporters at a campaign office in Philadelphia, referring to a meme intended to portray strength.
“Dirk Brandon is coming back,” the president said.
Ironically, Biden’s situation is similar to that in 2016 after the “Access Hollywood” tape was leaked, revealing Trump bragging about grabbing women’s genitals, one Democratic strategist said. At the time, the story caused turmoil within the Republican Party, with former allies trying to distance themselves from the GOP candidate. There were even rumors at the time that Trump was dropping out of the race.
“Different parties, but the same dilemma,” the strategist said. “At the end of the day, it’s a ‘flawed candidate’ issue. As Democrats, we value purity, righteousness, and the moral high ground. And while we understand there are certainly plenty of reasons to step aside, there is no compulsory means to force him to do so.”
The same strategist also said Biden could still be the Democrats’ best candidate in the fall elections.
“There’s a lot of shorthand here, and this is a lot messier than people want to admit,” the strategist said. “But I don’t know that any of the other candidates are going to win for sure. I’m more confident about other things. But I know who Biden is going to be, and there’s something to be said about that.”
