Feeling angry and betrayed after numerous Democrats have called on him to step aside as the party’s presidential nominee, Joe Biden and his family may be coming to grips with the notion that he will have to leave the race.
Two sources familiar with the situation told NBC News that there are raw feelings at play as the Democratic National Convention is due to start in about a month’s time. The president feels he has been left hung out to dry by party leaders who privately say there’s no path to winning in November for the president. Meanwhile, his family has begun mapping out what his exit would look like if he were to call it quits, NBC News reported.
The former president Barack Obama tweeted his support after the disastrous 27 June televised debate with Donald Trump that sparked the concerns over Biden’s age, but he has since remained quiet, although he has shared his concerns in private.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, as well as former speaker Nancy Pelosi, have listened to the concerns of their caucuses and shared them with Biden. In public, they have all said they support whatever Biden chooses to do, but they haven’t told members to back Biden or shared any instructions on what the next step might be.
Biden goes back decades with Schumer and Pelosi from his time in the Senate and as vice-president. Sources told NBC News that Biden is angry at how the party is trying to make him step aside.
One source close to Biden told the outlet: “Can we all just remember for a minute that these same people who are trying to push Joe Biden out are the same people who literally gave us all Donald Trump? In 2015, Obama, Pelosi, Schumer pushed Biden aside in favor of Hillary; they were wrong then, and they are wrong now.”
The source noted that in 2016, Hillary Clinton led by as much as nine points in the polls.
“How did all this work out for everyone in 2016? Perhaps we should learn a few lessons from 2016; one of them is polls are BS — just ask secretary Clinton,” the source told NBC. “And two, maybe, just maybe, Joe Biden is more in touch with actual Americans than Obama-Pelosi-Schumer?”
Even amid reports that Biden is more receptive to hearing arguments for his departure, his campaign is resolutely saying that he’s remaining in the race.
In Milwaukee, where the Republican National Convention ended on Thursday, Biden’s deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said the president “is not wavering on anything”.
But the continuing calls for him to step aside have created the sense that the matter remains unresolved. For many Democrats, it’s only a question of when Biden steps aside, not a question of if he will do so.
One House Democrat told NBC that Pelosi “has the force within the party. If she were to say [drop out] and he didn’t agree, if she were to go public, then that would be tremendously damaging.”
Another member told the outlet that the dam “is breaking now for him to get out” and that “members may be feeling that there is no need to pile on at this point” by calling for him to go.
One source said Monday could be a “big day” if Biden hasn’t withdrawn by then, with a bigger push for him to call it quits as congressional Democrats return from recess.
This comes as many senior Biden officials in the White House and on the campaign believe he must now drop out as he faces increasing isolation, according to CNN.
“Everyone is saying it privately,” a senior Democrat told the network. “People see and feel the walls closing in.”
Another Democrat in close touch with the White House said the president has become “exceptionally insulated and isolated” since the debate debacle on 27 June. After top Biden advisers faced the anger of the first family following the debate, the president’s inner circle has only grown smaller.
Biden is self-isolating with Covid-19 at his beach house in Delaware, where he has reportedly become more “receptive” to the notion that he may have to step aside, one Democratic adviser told CNN. The president is in a “contemplative stage” as he goes over his options, privately acknowledging that his path to victory is narrow.
The president’s self-isolation in Rehoboth Beach comes as his family has started discussions about what a possible departure from the race may look like.
Two people familiar with the talks noted that any departure would have to put the party in the best possible place to beat Trump while also paying tribute for the more than 50 years Biden has spent in public office.
Family members have reportedly discussed how the president would want to end his campaign on his own terms and with a detailed plan ready to go. The possible impact of the campaign on his health, his family, and the country is top of mind in those discussions, the sources told NBC.
But a White House spokesperson rejected that any discussions regarding a possible exit are taking place.
“That is not happening, period,” the spokesperson told NBC News. “The individuals making those claims are not speaking for his family or his team — and they will be proven wrong. Keep the faith.”
The spokesperson also denied claims that exit discussions are taking place among senior members of staff.
And on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Friday, Biden’s campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said he “absolutely” remains in the race.
But she also added: “We’ve definitely seen some slippage in support … We have a lot of work to do to make sure that we are reassuring the American people that, yes, he’s old, but he can do the job and he can win.”
The Independent has contacted the Biden campaign for comment.