President Joe Biden has been through several ups and downs this week regarding support for his reelection campaign, starting out with a reprieve of calls to stand aside and ending the week with defiant allies stating he is here to stay.
In the wake of the assassination attempt on the life of former President Donald Trump, a shock wave went through both parties, allowing both Biden and Trump a reprieve from the usual mudslinging and, in the president’s case, calls from fellow Democrats to pass the torch to a new nominee.
Biden and his campaign are adamant that the president is not standing aside and will be the Democratic nominee, while there are reports that he is more receptive to the idea of allowing a new candidate to step forward. The campaign has denied this.
Crickets from detractors heading into Monday
Democrats held their breath heading into last weekend for the dam to break and more lawmakers to join the 19 congressional Democrats who had called on Biden to step aside as of July 12.
However, the shooting at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday prompted bipartisan calls for unity and many Biden allies saw it as a signal to rally behind their de facto nominee ahead of the Republican National Convention, where a united GOP would stand firm behind Trump.
Some members like Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) still expressed strong concerns over the weekend that Biden was not strong enough to defeat Trump, particularly as polling shows that he is trailing Trump in battleground states and nationwide surveys.
Lawmakers like Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) went on television to speak in support of Biden and urge their colleagues to do the same. Strategists warned, however, that the silence would only last so long “before we go back to our normal behavior.”
House Democrats’ letter resurges candidacy concerns on Tuesday
The looming date to nominate Biden as the Democrats’ pick for president drew “serious concerns” from House Democrats that were exposed after news broke of a letter circulating arguing against the use of a virtual roll call.
The virtual call was originally decided upon to ensure the president would qualify for the ballot in Ohio by Aug. 7, the initial deadline date. However, Ohio has since changed its rules, making the virtual call no longer necessary, the lawmakers argued.
The letter resurged concerns that Biden’s candidacy could negatively affect not only who wins the White House but competitive down-ballot seats that could decide if Democrats retake the House and maintain the Senate majority. News also broke on Tuesday that battleground House Democrats who are concerned a ticket topped with Biden will backfire on their contests are reportedly confiding in former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
Two Democrats who had asked Biden to pass the torch had confirmed to the Washington Examiner that they had not changed their positions on Biden’s candidacy, and a third, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), reaffirmed his stance on Wednesday.
Wednesday sees calls for Biden to suspend campaign grow to 20
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) set off another dose of anxiety in Bidenworld after he became the 20th congressional Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw from the race. He argued that the stakes are “just too high” and there was “one singular goal: defeating Donald Trump.”
Like his colleagues, Schiff praised Biden’s legacy as cemented in stone already, so the best thing he could do is to pass the porch.
Meanwhile, a notice from the Democratic National Convention stating that a virtual roll call would not take place until August eased worries from House Democrats, causing them to halt their letter.
House Minority Leader Hakeem (D-NY) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) were reportedly helping to fuel a pressure campaign to delay the DNC’s plans to nominate Biden before next month’s party convention, as well.
Biden himself gave an interview to BET’s Ed Gordon, stating that he would consider dropping out if his medical staff diagnosed him with a new condition or disease that would make continuing his campaign impossible. The medical condition is another “if” added to Biden’s list of potential reasons he’d step down: a sign from God, urging from his family, or if polls showed that he had no chance of winning.
A memo released Wednesday also sent shockwaves through political circles after it found nearly every other Democrat tested performed better than Biden in a matchup with Trump. The strongest candidates were Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Govs. Wes Moore (D-MD), Josh Shapiro (D-PA), and Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), all of whom polled above Biden “by roughly 5 points across battleground states.”
A new poll released Wednesday also showed that a majority of voters want Biden to drop out of the race, a situation likely to put increased pressure on congressional Democrats to decide if they rally behind Biden or think it’s time to move on to someone new.
Biden also contracted COVID-19, his doctors confirmed Wednesday, effectively bringing his campaigning to a temporary halt.
News Biden is considering dropping out hits Thursday
On Thursday, many news outlets reported that Democratic sources close to conversations regarding Biden’s campaign said the president is more receptive to the idea of dropping from the race.
The reports that Biden was “soul-searching” about the fate of his reelection bid circulated for much of the day, but his campaign was quick to deny these claims.
“Look, I talk to the president every day like I said,” Quentin Fulks, principal deputy campaign manager, told reporters. “He is not wavering on anything. The president has made his decision. I don’t want to be rude but I don’t know how many more times we can answer that. Joe Biden has said he is running for president of the United States.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) also caused stirs after it was revealed he sent a letter to the president pleading with him to listen to his advisers’ and colleagues’ concerns about his staying in the race. He argued that there is “no shame in taking a well-deserved bow.”
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“Everything we believe in is on the line in the next four-and-a-half months,” Raskin told Biden. “We have an overriding obligation to defeat the forces of resurgent monarchy and oppression. Everything else pales in comparison to this struggle, even your magnificent policy achievements. No one envies the choice you must make now, Mr. President, but remember this as the great politician you are and have always been.”
The effects of calling on Biden to drop out are seeping into those House Democrats’ races as well. Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI) was originally excluded from a coordinated campaign effort in Michigan after she said Biden should withdraw his campaign, but the Biden campaign denied that it made that call. She was reinstated in the effort by Thursday morning after facing questions from Politico.
