President Biden has been “extremely busy taking calls” and plans to continue doing so throughout the week, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital, and his reelection tactic appears to be working.
Biden has faced growing calls from within his party to step down and end his reelection campaign after his disastrous performance in last month’s debate, but he is doing all he can to salvage his suddenly precarious candidacy by blunting opposition from lawmakers, activists and commentators who are pressuring the Democrat to drop the nominee, sources told Fox News Digital.
“President Biden has been extremely busy taking calls,” a source familiar with the president’s activities told Fox News Digital, adding that Biden plans to make more calls on Tuesday.
By Monday evening, the tide appeared to be beginning to turn, at least on Capitol Hill, with more than a half-dozen Democratic sources telling Fox News Digital that “passionate calls” to replace Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee should be ignored.
The White House has insisted Biden is “absolutely not” abandoning his reelection campaign. “He’s going to keep campaigning.”
President Biden walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, after returning from a trip to Pennsylvania on Sunday, July 7. (AP/Susan Walsh)
Following a wave of reports over the weekend that House and Senate Democrats were planning to abandon Biden, the president wrote to congressional Democrats on Monday saying he was “committed to continuing this campaign” and arguing that further doubts about his eligibility to run “will only help Mr. Trump and hurt us.”
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, was reportedly considering holding a meeting on Monday to rally support among his colleagues to call for Biden to resign.
Rep. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania, left) urged panicked Democrats to “calm down” over President Biden’s widely panned performance in the debate. (Getty Images)
That meeting never took place, sources told Fox News Digital.
Instead, Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) voiced support for the president in the Senate, along with Sens. John Fetterman and Raphael Warnock.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (right) and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) ascend the steps of the Senate Chamber. (Drew Ungerer/Getty Images)
Other senators, such as Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Ill.), did not directly pledge to support the president, saying they first needed to meet with fellow Democratic senators on Tuesday.
“I will refrain from making any further comment until I have had a chance to meet with him,” he told Fox News.
But on the other side of the Capitol, Democratic members of Congress, including Reps. Bennie Thompson, Ayanna Pressley, Katherine Cortez Masto, Rosa de Lauro, Dan Goldman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Steven Horsford and Jim Clyburn, supported the president.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York is pictured in the Cannon Tunnel on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“That’s settled. Joe Biden is our nominee,” Ocasio-Cortez told Fox News. “He’s not dropping out of the race. He’s still in the race and I support him.”
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By Monday night, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who held a conference call with House committee leaders on Sunday night, said he still supported the president.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York (center), arrives to attend the weekly Democratic caucus meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on June 4, 2024. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
“The day after the debate, I made it publicly clear that I support Joe Biden for president and the Democratic nominee,” Jeffries said late Monday. “My position has not changed.”
When asked whether Biden is the best choice to be the Democratic nominee in 2024, Jeffries stuck to his ground.
“Same answer,” he said.
A source familiar with Democratic leadership told Fox News Digital that Jeffries’ position remains unchanged.
“Jeffries and [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer will be against Biden,” the source said.
Rep. Steven Horsford (left) supported President Biden’s campaign in Nevada. (Getty Images)
Sources told Fox News Digital that members of the National Finance Committee, members of the Congressional Black Caucus and “the most senior members of Congress” continue to support Biden.
Biden participated in a virtual meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus on Monday night, where the president spoke and answered questions from caucus members.
“During the conversation, President Biden thanked the call participants and spoke about the importance of this election and the critical role CBC leadership will play in winning President Biden’s reelection and defeating Donald Trump,” the Biden campaign told Fox News Digital.
Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., released a statement shortly after the call ended, saying she “reaffirmed” her support for Biden and Harris.
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.). (Mark Wilson)
“Undermining Biden will only weaken our resolve to defeat Donald Trump in November,” she said.
Also on Monday night, Biden received the endorsement of Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Nanette Barragan and Vice Chair Adriano Espaillat.
“The confused calls for Biden to withdraw are just noise from the media and professional Democrats. Of course, political insiders are making a big fuss about a poor debate night, but let’s put things into perspective,” a Democratic strategist and former Biden administration official told Fox News Digital. “Joe Biden has already proven he can do the job, and the point is, he’s the only person ever to beat Donald Trump.”
The former administration official pointed to post-debate polls and noted that the numbers “haven’t dipped” because “his age has already been taken into account in how voters are approaching the issue.”
President Biden (right) and former President Trump participate in the CNN presidential debate at CNN Studios in Atlanta on June 27, 2024. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
“Millions of Americans supported him in the primaries, and the idea of bringing in a new candidate this late in the race is completely illusory,” the Democratic strategist and former administration official continued. “Biden is a well-known figure with a popular platform, and trying to reinvent the wheel now is not only unrealistic, it’s magical thinking.”
The official added, “While politicians are obsessed with scandals to get clicks, voters are not going to abandon Biden in favor of Trump because of one debate failure.”
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But a Democratic source told Fox News Digital that the “reality” is that with Election Day just four months away, Democrats “cannot easily field a replacement who can beat Trump this late in the process”.
“The reality is, if we want to win, it’s too late to replace that player, that’s all,” a source told Fox News Digital.
Additionally, despite reports that major donors are considering withdrawing their support, sources told Fox News Digital that those donors “have personal relationships with Biden that go back decades.”
“The loyalty is there and he has implemented many of the Democratic policies,” a source told Fox News Digital. “Even though Biden has given her access to world leaders and other opportunities over the years, Kamala has not proven herself worthy of being the replacement.”
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally in Las Vegas on June 28, 2024. (Bizayev Tesfaye)
Meanwhile, some reports after the debate suggested there was confusion among staff in the White House and within the Biden administration, but administration sources sought to ease those concerns.
“The president has been on the brink of losing the election many times throughout his career, and especially over the last five years since he announced his candidacy,” a longtime Biden staffer told Fox News Digital. “From winning the nomination in 2020 to becoming one of the few candidates to defeat an incumbent president, to saving the economy, enacting his own legislative agenda and leading the Republican Party against a Republican wave, he continues to prove his doubters wrong.”
“With a win-loss record like that, why panic?” the longtime staffer added.
“It’s ironic that the same Washington politicians who have been trying to exclude us every week of this president’s term are now pretending that we’re not used to being excluded,” another administration official told Fox News Digital.
“That’s when we’re at our best,” the official said.
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Meanwhile, another Biden administration source told Fox News Digital that despite the chaos, “Biden will still win” and that staff are “remaining faithful.”
“The choice is between someone who performed badly in the debates and someone who presidential historians have described as the worst president in American history,” the source said. “Democrats know Trump has lost his mind and is unfit to be president.”
Even his rival, former President Trump, said he believes Biden will come out on top among the Democratic candidates.
Former President Trump, left, and President Biden participate in the first presidential debate for the 2024 election, Thursday, June 27, 2024, at CNN studios in Atlanta. (Javin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“It’s a great honor to be on stage representing the people of our country,” Trump said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital after the June 27 debate.
Asked if Biden would still be the Democratic nominee, Trump told Fox News Digital: “Yes, I think he’ll be the nominee.”
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Pressed further about early concerns from Democrats about Biden’s performance, Trump insisted Biden would not be replaced.
“No, I don’t think so,” Trump said.
He later bragged about his debate performance, telling Fox News Digital that he “won” Biden and suggested any Democrat could have won if he shared the stage with him.
“They couldn’t have done any better,” Trump said. “Nobody could have done it better.”
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Greenbriar Farm in Chesapeake, Virginia, on June 28, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Since the debate, Trump and his campaign have remained relatively quiet about the turmoil within the Democratic Party.
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But a Trump campaign source told Fox News Digital that the former president wants to focus on the campaign and the upcoming Republican National Convention rather than on destroying his rival.
“The Democrats are in disarray,” a Trump campaign source told Fox News Digital. “Why would we let them shoot each other?”
