By Joe Biden is preparing to fight against congressional Democrats if they continue to insist that he step aside from the Democratic nomination next month in Chicago, according to new reports.
The president’s firm stance on staying in the race could very well spark a Democratic civil war.
The Wall Street Journal wrote, “Biden is bleeding support among Democrats and donors, despite the president’s pledge to remain in the race, following a disastrous June 27 debate against Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. While Vice President Kamala Harris has the clearest path to step up if Biden withdraws from the election, dissenting Democrats haven’t coalesced around a plan to pick a replacement nominee, and several said Sunday that talk of a fill-in nominee was premature.
Other Democrats have rallied around Biden. Rep. Frederica Wilson (D., Fla.) said Sunday that ‘any ‘leader’ calling for President Biden to drop out needs to get their priorities straight and stop undermining this incredible actual leader who has delivered real results for our country.'”
As both the House and Senate return to Capitol Hill for voting this week, reported Insider, expect talk about Biden’s future and the best way to force him off the ticket to “ramp up.”
The outlet explains that “reporters are going to be asking any Democratic lawmaker in sight whether they believe Biden should remain their party’s nominee against former President Donald Trump. Inevitably, some of them are likely to say that he should not, or that they continue to have grave concerns about his future.
As of Monday morning, five House Democrats have publicly called for Biden to step aside, while two have pointedly said that he can’t win. In private, the situation seems more dire. According to several media reports, four more senior Democrats — including Reps. Jerry Nadler of New York, Mark Takano of California, Adam Smith of Washington, and Joe Morelle of New York — have privately said that Biden should drop out. Though no Democratic senator has publicly called for Biden to go, The Washington Post reported that the “consensus” among them is that he should, citing two Democratic senators. The Post also reported that Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia is among them.
At this point, the best possible outcome for Biden is that Democrats on Capitol Hill simply shut up and fall in line, and that the president continues barreling into the November election with multiple Democrats having gone on record saying that he should have stepped aside.
The worst possible outcome for Biden is that a public consensus emerges among congressional Democrats that he must go, and that party leaders follow suit by issuing calls for him to drop out. Though Biden insisted that wouldn’t happen during his Friday interview on ABC, it’s difficult to see how he could shoulder on if it did.
Insider noted that the worst-case scenario might be currently happening: “A large minority of House Democrats call for Biden to step aside, but he remains the nominee, irreparably damaged by the dissent within his own party.”
During an interview this morning, the president seemed to dare Democrats to test his resolve to continue the fight against Donald Trump, according to Semafor.
Biden called into MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” talk show on Monday in a bid to assuage concerns over his continued presidential bid — and air his frustrations with Democratic Party “elites” questioning his ability to win in November following his poor debate performance against Donald Trump.
“I haven’t lost. I beat him last time. I’ll beat him this time.”
— President Biden defends his campaign on Morning Joe amid calls to drop out pic.twitter.com/aQ3lyntUOX
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) July 8, 2024
“If any of these guys don’t think I should run, run against me. Go ahead. Announce for president — challenge me at the convention,” he said.
He also sent a defiant letter to congressional Democrats, writing, “We had a Democratic nomination process, and the others have spoken clearly and decisively. I have received over 14 million votes, 87% of the votes cast across the entire nominating process. I have nearly 3,900 delegates, making me the presumptive nominee of our party by a wide margin.
This was a process open to anyone who wanted to run. Only three people chose to challenge me. One fared so badly that he left the primaries to run as an independent. Another attacked me for being too old and was soundly defeated. The voters of the Democratic Party have voted. They have chosen me to be the nominee of the party.
Do we now just say this process didn’t matter? That the voters don’t have a say?
I decline to do that. I feel a deep obligation to the faith and the trust the voters of the Democratic Party have placed in me to run this year. It was their decision to make. Not the press, not the pundits, not the big donors, not any selected group of individuals, no matter how well intentioned. The voters – and the voters alone – decide the nominee of the Democrat Party. How can we stand for democracy in our nation if we ignore it in our own party?”
Biden spent much of Monday attacking “elites” who want him to abandon the nomination.
[Read More: Trump Narrows It Down To Three]
