Though the calls for President Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race quieted after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, prominent Democrats are still working behind the scenes to urge their presumptive nominee to step aside, with Politico reporting that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is leading the effort.
According to Politico, Pelosi is “convinced Biden will lose” and has been “working the phones” since the presidential debate last month to try and oust Biden as the Democratic candidate.
Sources close to Pelosi told Martin she’s made calls to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and told a former elected official that “Biden’s legacy can’t be destroying the party.” Pelosi also reportedly spoke with former President Barack Obama; both Democrats share concerns over Biden’s ability to beat Trump, CNN reported.
Other Democratic members of Congress too are privately lobbying for Biden’s withdrawal, urging his team to consider how a Democratic House and Senate loss would impact the president’s legacy, CNN reported.
One Democratic lawmaker told CNN it was “counterproductive” to publicly call on Biden to step aside right now, as the image of a unified Democratic Party is important as ever. But, behind the scenes, those efforts continue.
Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg, who advised Bill Clinton’s two winning presidential campaigns, has been sending memos sharing his opinion that Biden is going to lose the election, sources told CNN. A Democrat close to the White House described Greenber’s memos as “devastating,” indicating that Democrats would lose control over each house of Congress too.
Biden, however, remains committed to running.
“Look, 14 million people voted for me to be the nominee in the Democratic Party, OK? I listen to them,” he said in an interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt on Monday.
Some Democrats in Biden’s campaign are concerned that the president is receiving an incomplete picture of the race from those closest to him, who reportedly limit the data he receives, The Washington Post reported. Two Democratic strategists involved in Biden’s re-election efforts told the Post that Biden should be hearing from a wider range of voices, including the top officials on his own campaign.
The Post obtained a portion of a 45-minute Zoom call on Saturday with the New Democratic Coalition in which Biden falsely claimed that he was leading in several national polls post-debate.
“The polling data we’re seeing nationally and on the swing states has been essentially where it was before,” Biden said in the recording. “You noticed the last three polls, nationally, they had me up four points. And I mean, I don’t have much faith in the polls at all, either way, because they’re so hard to read anymore.”
In a YouGov poll conducted from July 4-12, Biden trailed behind Trump in all seven swing states. In Arizona and Nevada, Trump has gained 7 and 4 points, respectively, on the President since March. In Michigan, Trump leads Biden 42-40.
In fact, not a single head-to-head poll since June shows Biden ahead of Trump by four percentage points, according to the national polls website 538. One poll, from Marist College, did find Biden with a 2 point lead, within the margin of error, but an average of the current 2024 presidential polls show he trails Trump by 2.4 points.
“He is not getting the honest truth,” one House Democrat told The Post.
Despite the growing level of concern within the party — or, perhaps, because of it — leaders of the Democratic National Committee are moving to confirm Biden as the Democratic nominee by the end of July, sources told The New York Times. Though the Democratic National Convention isn’t until August, this year’s roll call, which usually takes place on the convention floor, is set to take place virtually, with ballots cast as soon as next Monday.
Some Democrats have pushed for the DNC to delay the process.
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., is circulating a letter among House Democrats calling on the DNC to delay Biden’s nomination until the convention in August. A copy of the letter was obtained by Axios.
“We respectfully but emphatically request that you cancel any plans for an accelerated ‘virtual roll call’ and further refrain from any extraordinary procedures that could be perceived as curtailing legitimate debate,” the letter reads.
“People are back to being angry at Biden and a push to sign on to this letter is going around … the ‘replace Biden’ movement is back,” a House Democrat told Axios.
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