By Brooke Mallory, OAN Staff
Friday, July 12, 2024 1:44 PM
Concerns are growing among House Democrats about President Joe Biden’s chances of defeating former President Donald Trump in November’s presidential election.
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, met with the president Thursday night to share the group’s perspective on Biden’s Thursday press conference and his reelection efforts.
The meeting, announced in a letter to colleagues on Friday morning, was convened after Jeffries spoke extensively to House Democrats in the two weeks following last month’s debate, questioning Biden’s fitness to lead the presidential nominee.
A person close to Biden said the meeting took place after a key news conference that evening. The Hill report.
“On behalf of the House Democratic Caucus, I requested, and was graciously granted, a private meeting with President Joe Biden, which took place yesterday evening,” Jeffries was reported as saying. “In my conversation with President Biden, I directly conveyed the extensive insights, heartfelt views and conclusions about the way forward that we shared during our recent time together,” he continued.
The debate, held on the same night as Biden’s “important” press conference concluding the NATO summit, aimed to ease any fears voters and Democratic politicians had about Biden’s chances of remaining the party’s nominee. The debate drew mixed reactions, with some Democrats praising the president’s handling of foreign policy and national security challenges, while others called attention to a series of gaffes that seemed to dominate the evening.
The president answered questions for about 50 minutes.
“Since Thursday night’s big press conference, four House Democrats have urged Biden to step down – Reps. Jim Himes (Connecticut), Scott Peters (California), Eric Sorensen (Illinois) and Brittany Pettersen (Colorado), bringing the total number of Democrats who have publicly urged Biden to step down to 17 in the House. In the Senate, Sen. Peter Welch (Vermont) is the only Democrat to have publicly urged Biden to step down so far,” a Senate spokesperson said. Leech.
Jeffries has not spoken since last month’s debate, when Biden stuttered and consistently appeared to lose his train of thought.
The performance sparked calls within the party for Biden to resign, and those demands have only intensified since then, although Biden has maintained he plans to continue campaigning.
On the day of the debate, Jeffries told reporters he didn’t think Biden should resign, but hours later, he declined to answer another question about whether the president was the best spokesman for the Democratic Party or on issues like national security, instead pointing out two major blunders Biden made in his most recent press conference.
“I’m going to refrain from making any comment on the situation at this point other than to say I support the nominee until he clearly lays out a path forward in terms of his vision for America at this time,” Jeffries said later.
“Until that process is complete, I won’t comment on what external stakeholders have to say about the matter,” he added.
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