President Joe Biden has been adamant that he’s not giving up his bid for another term, and he and his aides say that they’re done talking about the dreadful debate performance two weeks ago. Other Democratic officials and allies aren’t done, though, and Wednesday brought fresh examples of why Biden and his team haven’t been able to put the issue to rest — and will likely have to field questions about Biden’s viability as long as he maintains his candidacy.
The latest big blow came from Nancy Pelosi. The former Democratic speaker, who remains widely respected in the party and is reportedly considered to be one of the few leaders who could sway Biden, appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” — which is known to be one of the president’s favored programs. Asked about Biden’s predicament, she notably did not say Democrats should just move on.
“It's up to the president to decide if he is going to run," Pelosi said, clearly ignoring Biden’s insistence that his decision has already been made. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”
Asked about Biden’s insistence that he has made the decision to stay in the race, Pelosi said she wants Biden to do whatever he decides. “Whatever he decides, we go with, she said, adding that she wants to let Biden focus on the NATO summit he’s hosting this week. “Let’s just hold off,” she said. “Whatever you’re thinking, either tell somebody privately, but you don’t have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week.”
Pelosi later insisted to reporters that she was not hinting that Biden should rethink his decision to seek another term. “I never said he should reconsider his decision,” she said. “The decision is the president’s.”
Yet, as Politico noted: “There’s little doubt that she knew — and fleshed out with confidants — exactly what she was doing before she was mic'd up at MSNBC this morning. … Unshackled from the burdens of caucus leadership, she doesn’t need to worry about pleasing members — something, we should be honest, she rarely fretted about as speaker. As such, she could be the one Democrat with the gravitas and wherewithal to tell Biden what everyone is saying privately — if, of course, she is willing.”
Democrats fear a Trump landslide: Other Democrats continue to express their concerns publicly. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado told CNN Tuesday night that he hasn’t seen any indication from the White House that there’s a plan for victory in November and that he sees Donald Trump on track to win — “and maybe win it by a landslide, and take with him the Senate and the House.”
Rep. Pat Ryan of New York on Wednesday called on Biden to step aside, becoming the eighth House Democrats to do so. And Rep. Ritchie Torres, also from New York, noted with alarm last night that the Cook Political Report had shifted its ratings for six Electoral College contests toward Trump.
“There must be a serious reckoning with the down-ballot effect of whomever we nominate,” Torres said in a statement today, adding to CNN: “If we are going on a political suicide mission, then we should at least be honest about it.”
The drumbeat of doubts about Biden’s ability to win and successfully complete a second term also continued from some high-profile sources outside Washington, D.C.
Actor George Clooney, a prominent Democratic supporter who recently co-hosted a fundraiser for Biden, published an op-ed in The New York Times saying that the Biden he saw last month was not the same man he had seen in years past — and that Democrats need a new nominee. “We are not going to win in November with this president,” Clooney wrote. “On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate. This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and Congress member and governor who I’ve spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly.”
Another prominent Hollywood Democrat, director Rob Reiner, posted on social media that it’s time for Biden to step down.
And George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, who conducted a closely watched interview with Biden last Friday as the president tried to mitigate the damage from the debate, also added to doubts about the president. Stephanopoulos was walking in New York City when he was asked for his thoughts on Biden. “I don’t think he can serve four more years,” the newsman and former Clinton White House aide replied, his response captured on video. Through a spokesperson, Stephanopoulos told CNN he shouldn’t have responded to the question, but the damage was done.
Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s former White House communications director, said in a post on X that the Biden team knows about the data points that matter. “They are right that the game here is to convince voters, not pundits,” she wrote, adding, “If they have data that supports the path to victory that they see, they should put it out there now and help people who badly want to beat Trump rally around it. People want to see the path.”
What’s next: As the NATO summit concludes tomorrow, Biden will face his next huge test: a solo press conference that will be closely watched for any stumbles. It’s the exact sort of unscripted event that many have been calling for Biden to do as he seeks to reassure voters that his debate performance was an aberration. And three top Biden aides — advisers Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti along with Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon — are reportedly scheduled to meet privately with Democratic senators for a lunch Thursday.
