Democratic lawmakers and donors have expressed uncertainty about whether Biden can pass several key tests in the coming days to remain the party’s presidential nominee.
While acknowledging that it is ultimately up to Biden whether he runs for a second term, some have publicly pleaded with him to dig deeper into the polls and consider whether he is truly up to the task of beating former President Trump in November.
Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, on Wednesday became the first Democratic senator to call on Biden to withdraw.
Also on the same day, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggested Biden could still change his mind about whether to seek re-election, and urged her colleagues to give the president time to think it over.
“I want him to do whatever he decides. That’s the status quo. Whatever he decides, we’ll follow it,” Pelosi said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“I told everybody, whatever they’re thinking, to just wait and not put it on the table until they’ve either told someone privately or seen how this week plays out,” she said.
Pelosi’s comments were a shock given that Biden had made clear his intention to continue in the campaign in a letter to Democratic lawmakers on Monday, declaring, “I am committed to remaining in this race, fighting to the end, and defeating Donald Trump.”
And given her standing within the party, her comments give other Democrats an excuse to make their own assessment of Biden’s future.
“I think Speaker Pelosi handled it extremely well this morning,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Ind.).
Whitehouse said last week he was “quite horrified” by Biden’s dismal debate performance and called on the Biden team to “speak openly about his condition.”
Democratic lawmakers are looking ahead to several key events happening over the next few days.
The biggest test will be Biden’s solo news conference on Thursday, wrapping up a three-day NATO summit in Washington, when Democratic lawmakers, donors and media pundits will be closely watching how he handles tough questioning.
Another key moment will be a special Senate Democrats’ meeting with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Thursday afternoon, when senators will hear from three of Biden’s top advisers, Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti and Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon.
And on Monday, Biden will sit down for a lengthy interview with NBC’s Lester Holt that will air in its entirety and unedited, giving voters another chance to judge the president’s mental health and vitality.
A Democratic senator, speaking on condition of anonymity, said how Biden handles these and other tests over the next two weeks will be crucial in indicating his ability to win a second term and remain in the Oval Office for another four years.
“We’re in uncharted territory right now and we’re just feeling our way around,” the lawmaker said. “There’s not a lot of precedent.”
“The next week or so will probably be the defining moment,” the senator predicted.
Several Democratic lawmakers expressed continued concern about Biden’s chances of beating Trump in the fall election, saying the Biden team has not yet laid out a clear vision for winning the November election.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) told colleagues at a meeting on Tuesday that he believes Biden will lose, saying that if Biden’s problems had been resolved since the debate “we wouldn’t even be talking about it.”
“It should be resolved at this point,” he said.
But when asked whether Biden should end his reelection campaign, Tester retorted: “Fuck off.”
A Democratic fundraiser told The Hill that Biden’s advisers are unlikely to reassure senators when they meet on Capitol Hill on Thursday.
“I think the sentiment is that if people think the principal can’t deliver then it doesn’t matter what staff say,” the source said.
The fundraiser added that Biden campaign and Democratic National Committee aides have failed to present a compelling plan in previous calls and briefings that would ease the concerns of lawmakers and donors.
“They’re just saying they’re going to win this race, but they’re not laying out a path to explain it, and people are getting more and more upset,” the fundraiser said.
Tester was one of three Democratic senators, along with Sens. Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Michael Bennet (Colorado), who bluntly told colleagues at a private lunch on Tuesday that Biden cannot beat Trump.
Brown told reporters on Wednesday that he’s heard “concerns” about Biden from Ohio voters.
“I hear Ohioans have legitimate concerns about their president, and I listen, but my job is to continue working to fight prescription drug prices and jobs issues for our state,” he said.
Democrats say the next few days will be crucial in deciding whether Biden should continue to run for a second term as they want to settle the dispute over his future before the Democratic National Committee holds an online process to certify the nomination as early as July 21.
Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), one of several Democratic senators who expressed “concerns” about Biden’s ability to beat Trump in the general election, said the party’s internal turmoil needed to be resolved quickly before the delegates could hold a roll call vote.
If Biden continues to campaign, he will have 3,894 delegate votes to cast, unless delegates who have sworn to support him out of conscience defect.
“The DNC Rules Committee made this decision because they believed that legal requirements in Ohio would force them to vote early,” Smith said of the possibility of early delegate voting to solidify Biden’s nomination. “I think it’s up to the Rules Committee to decide what to do.”
“I don’t think we need any more time to debate this issue thoroughly,” she said, reflecting a broader sentiment among Senate Democrats that they want to quickly resolve the issue of whether Biden or someone else should be the presidential front-runner.
Democrats have speculated that the Democratic National Committee could vote to nominate Biden as early as July 21, but no official timeline has been announced.
The Ohio State Legislature initially decided that Biden needed to be certified as the Democratic presidential nominee by August 7 in order to appear on the ballot, and then the Democratic National Convention indicated it would use an online process to certify Biden’s nomination before the convention.
Ohio has since passed a bill to ensure Biden appears on the state’s ballot, but has not indicated it intends to change its plans to move forward with a virtual roll call before the Democratic National Convention.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told The Hill on Wednesday that he doesn’t think the DNC needs to delay the online process to certify Biden as the party’s nominee well before the Democratic National Convention.
“I don’t see any need for a postponement at this point. I think the issue can remain on the table,” he said, suggesting the parties could reach an agreement in the coming weeks.
Alex Gangitano contributed.
