Yesterday experienced what is being labelled as the 'Largest IT outage in history' Meanwhile one in ten Democrats call for action from US President Joe Biden.
Two Senators were among a flood of at least a dozen Democrats who called on US President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race today – the largest single-day wave of politicians asking him to step aside since his disastrous debate performance last month.
Senators Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Martin Heinrich (New Mexico) and 10 House members added their names to the rapidly growing list of Democrats worried that Biden was on track to lose the election to Republican nominee Donald Trump. But the President’s campaign reiterated in no uncertain terms that he would be staying put.
The stand-off between the President and his party set up a pivotal clash that is expected to intensify this weekend and could reach its culmination next week. The increasingly intense impasse between supporters and sceptics of the President suggests there is no end in sight to the Democratic infighting that has surrounded Biden’s candidacy as both sides have grown more dug-in and more willing to allow the stand-off to play out in public.
US President Joe Biden is under increasing pressure to drop out of the presidential race with Donald Trump. Photo / CNP / Bloomberg via Getty Images
“I think the President should end his campaign,” Brown said in a statement. Heinrich, hailing from a traditionally Democratic state that aides fear has suddenly become competitive, called on Biden to “step aside” for the good of the country.
The President’s aides remained defiant in the face of the biggest threat to his candidacy so far.
“He’s not going anywhere,” Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, saying the President was “absolutely” committed to continuing his campaign. She called him the “best person to take on Donald Trump” and suggested the growing angst among top Democrats about Biden’s candidacy does not reflect the broader sentiment across the party.
Less than two hours after O’Malley Dillon’s appearance, four House Democrats released a joint statement calling on Biden to “pass the torch”, the broadest collective effort from Congress thus far – and a move some officials said was representative of a larger, growing groundswell against Biden among politicians that could erupt into view if Biden does not step aside over the weekend. By the end of the day, the 12 additional Democratic politicians who called on Biden to step aside today marked the highest total of any day since such calls began July 2.
“We must face the reality that widespread public concerns about your age and fitness are jeopardising what should be a winning campaign,” Representatives Jared Huffman (California), Marc Veasey (Texas), Jesús “Chuy” García (Illinois) and Mark Pocan (Wisconsin) told Biden in the joint statement.
The push highlighted an unmistakably ramped-up push in Congress to oust the President from the ticket. Politicians including Representatives Gabe Vasquez (New Mexico), Betty McCollum (Minnesota), Zoe Lofgren (California) and Morgan McGarvey (Kentucky) added their names to a fast-growing list. The total number of congressional Democrats urging the President to bow out has now risen past 35, more than 12% of all Democrats in Congress.
Joe Biden reportedly remains committed to being the Democratic nominee in this year's presidential election. Photo / Getty Images
It is clear the diverse group of Democratic stakeholders are seeing this moment very differently. Some people close to Biden are urging Democrats to give him the time and space to end his candidacy on his own, to end his half-century of political life with grace. Other Democrats say they have spent weeks giving the President every opportunity to leave with dignity on his own terms, only to see them all rebuffed.
Yet others are fully backing the President’s continued candidacy. O’Malley Dillon has told campaign aides privately that recent reports Biden is considering imminently dropping out of the race are far removed from reality, according to a person familiar with the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Top White House adviser Anita Dunn has echoed that sentiment, giving some campaign aides confidence that Biden remains committed to being the Democratic nominee even as he appears to be losing the confidence of significant portions of his party.
Yet the pressure to push Biden aside was only intensifying ahead of what some officials described as a crucial weekend, given that the Democratic National Convention is a month away – and the party is planning a virtual nominating process sooner to lock in the nominee.
That has fostered a “now or never” mood on Capitol Hill, with multiple polticians discussing a public effort to oust Biden from the race. A new Political Action Committee called Pass the Torch announced Friday that it was launching ads in Washington and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, urging Biden to end his re-election bid. A group of Democratic delegates gathered via Zoom on Friday to discuss how an open convention would work.
All the while, Biden remained behind closed doors at his home in Rehoboth Beach, where he is self-isolating after testing positive earlier this week for the coronavirus and experiencing mild symptoms. In a statement, Biden said he planned to return to the campaign trail next week.
“The stakes are high, and the choice is clear,” Biden said in the statement, a response to Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention on Friday. “Together, we will win.”
US President Joe Biden has remained behind closed doors this week at his home in Rehoboth Beach, where he is self-isolating after testing positive for Covid. Photo / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Biden’s doctor said today that the President continues to experience a loose cough and hoarseness, though his vital signs are normal and his symptoms have improved. Meanwhile, his political standing appears to be worsening. In a sign that Biden is planning to move forward with his bid for a second term, he plans to join comedian David Letterman for a July 29 fundraiser at the home of Hawaii Governor Josh Green, according to a person familiar with the planning. Yahoo News reported the planned fundraiser earlier.
The make-up of the four politicians behind today’s joint statement is significant, since they are all members of larger groups that have expressed support for Biden. Pocan is the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which has largely stuck with Biden. Garcia is a member of the Hispanic Caucus, whose fundraising arm endorsed Biden on Friday. Veasey is a member of the Black Caucus, whose leadership has also stood with the President.
“Passing the torch would fundamentally change the trajectory of the campaign,” they wrote.
Huffman and Veasey directly raised concerns to the President about his ability to win during separate calls that politicians held with Biden last weekend.
Heinrich suggested Biden could not win against Trump. “The return of Donald Trump to the White House poses an existential danger to our democracy,” he said. “We must defeat him in November, and we need a candidate who can do that.”
Heinrich is running for re-election in New Mexico, a state that Biden won by 11 points in 2020, but aides say the presidential race is tied in the state.
Polls show Biden trailing behind Trump in battleground states
More politicians are expected to follow suit in coming days, as polls appear to be solidifying with Biden trailling Trump in important battleground states. That would create the spectacle of a party torn apart and publicly at war with its leader, but a growing number of Democrats are concluding there could be little alternative.
“There’s been a gradual shift – it may be accelerating somewhat – with a few more, obviously, speaking publicly, and a good number privately,” said one senator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations with colleagues and the White House. “I think also the mood in the White House or the campaign also seems to be shifting somewhat, so I think the two trends are complementary.”
But, publicly, Biden’s team is showing no sign of shifting.
Today, Biden campaign aides pointed to support the President had received from key figures including liberal politicians such as Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent-Vermont) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Democrat-New York). During a lengthy Instagram Live session on Friday, Ocasio-Cortez told supporters that ousting Biden would lead to chaos and harm the party’s chances of defeating Trump. Sanders, speaking on Morning Joe offered a full-throated endorsement of Biden, saying the President could help Democrats win “in a big way”.
Campaign officials said they were planning multiple press events and volunteer events in the coming days, aiming to showcase that Biden’s candidacy was forging ahead.
The campaign also touted Friday’s endorsement of Biden by Bold Pac, the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The group said in a statement that Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris “have delivered for the Latino community”.
But not all members of the Pac or the Hispanic Caucus are supportive of Biden remaining at the top of the Democratic ticket. Representatives Raul Grijalva (Arizona), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington), Garcia (Illinois) and Mike Levin (California) are among House Democrats who have called for the President to leave the race.
The group had agreed to endorse Biden before Biden’s debate performance on June 27, which rocked the President’s candidacy after he struggled to complete his sentences, according to multiple people familiar with the conversations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
Members of Bold Pac, which includes a majority of Hispanic Democrats in Congress, were only alerted shortly before the release went out.
Democrat members discussing how and when to publicly call on Biden to step down
More House Democrats are in discussions about how and when to publicly call on Biden to step down. Some believe there is no need to participate in sinking an already waterlogged ship, others want to give Biden the weekend and still more, like the four who jointly spoke out today, believe it is important to keep up the pressure.
In the Senate, a group of Democrats is also discussing whether to come forward as a group to call on Biden to step aside. They are also discussing the timing – whether to do it after the weekend or sooner, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
The mood among Democratic senators has shifted against Biden’s candidacy just in the past few days, according to multiple senior aides. Last week, Democratic senators were divided. But as new polling has shown that states he easily won in 2020, including New Mexico and Virginia, are now essentially tied, Democrats are increasingly fearing they could lose if Biden heads the ticket.
Senator Jon Tester (Democrat-Montana), who is in a tough re-election in a conservative state, added his name to the calls to withdraw on Friday.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Democrat-New York) and his lieutenants spent the week continuing to hear from concerned members. They have not warned members against coming out against Biden, as they did in the days immediately after the debate. Instead, they are telling their colleagues to do what is best for their campaigns.
Jeffries told reporters he was continuing to support Biden as “our nominee”, though his remarks were little changed from previous public comments, in which he has suggested the President needs to make a decision about his candidacy.
Some in the President’s orbit suggest the mounting pressure campaign is counterproductive.
“Message to everyone trying to affect the president’s decision about whether to pass the torch: GIVE JOE BIDEN THE SPACE & TIME TO PROCEED AT HIS OWN PACE,” Laurence Tribe, a constitutional law professor at Harvard Law School who has spoken to Biden since the debate, wrote on X on Friday. “Stop pressuring the man. He has earned the right to your respect.”
Donald Trump delivered a lengthy, meandering and at times dark speech at the Republican National Convention this week. Photo / Bloomberg via Getty Images
The debate over Biden’s candidacy became more tense in the aftermath of the Republican National Convention, which ended with a lengthy, meandering and at times dark speech by Trump. The display convinced several Democratic officials that Trump could be beaten if the party has the right candidate.
“Donald Trump’s dark vision for the future is not who we are as Americans,” Biden said in a statement after the speech. “Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will defeat him at the ballot box.”
Many in the party remain unconvinced. The 30-second ads by Pass the Torch feature Democratic voters in Pennsylvania urging Biden to step aside. Delegates Are Democracy, another newly formed group, held a Zoom for delegates to the Democratic National Convention to inform them how an open primary would work if Biden were to step aside.
Elaine Kamarck, an expert on presidential nominations and a member of the Democratic National Committee, told the gathered delegates that if Biden were to bow out of the race, the road to an open convention could be fast-moving and “fascinating”.
