U.S. President Joe Biden reacts as he meets Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on April 15, 2024.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
President Joe Biden has told a key ally that his reelection campaign against former President Donald Trump may be unrecoverable if he cannot allay concerns about his fitness for office in the coming days, The New York Times first reported Wednesday.
The unnamed ally said Biden is still involved in the re-election fight but that he is aware that his upcoming public appearances must go well after his disastrous presidential debate with Trump last week.
“He knows that if he has two more events like this, we will be in a different place at the end of the weekend,” the ally said, according to the Times.
The Times quoted one of Biden’s top advisers, also anonymously, as saying the president was “well aware of the political challenge he faces.”
Later Wednesday, CNN reported that Biden acknowledged his dangerous position in a similar conversation with an ally. “He sees the moment. He has a clear view,” this ally told CNN.
It was unclear whether the two media outlets reported the same conversation. CNBC and NBC News have not independently confirmed the reports.
Biden reiterated in a conversation with campaign officials on Wednesday that he was staying in the race.
“Let me say this as clearly as possible, as simply and straightforwardly as possible: I am running,” Biden said, an official on the call told NBC News.
“No one is pushing me out,” he said. “I do not go. I’m in this race until the end and we will win.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated during a briefing Wednesday afternoon that Biden is “absolutely not” considering resigning.
Biden spokesman Andrew Bates had previously denied the Times report.
“This claim is absolutely false,” Bates wrote on the social media site X. “If The New York Times had given us more than seven minutes to comment, we would have told them.”
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The reported conversations came amid the ongoing fallout from Biden’s debate performance. The 81-year-old incumbent has struggled to articulate his positions and defend himself against the claims of his 78-year-old rival.
Biden’s lack of energy and focus in the debate has sparked widespread panic among his allies and donors, more and more of whom are considering whether Biden should withdraw from the race.
Much of this anxious discussion centered on the question of whether Vice President Kamala Harris could take Biden’s place as the party’s nominee.
CNBC reported Wednesday that a group of donors to Harris’ previous political campaigns — for president in 2020, Senate in 2016 and state before that — have begun privately strategizing about how best to position the vice president can be used to quickly contain any competition for the nomination should Biden drop out.
Although few Democrats have publicly called on Biden to resign, the president’s key political allies in Congress, including Reps. Nancy Pelosi and James Clyburn, declined to defend Biden’s performance, instead saying the debate raises legitimate questions about fitness of the President for four more years in office.
Biden is expected to meet with Democratic governors at the White House late Wednesday to convince them of his ability to continue as the party’s presumptive nominee.
The president will also meet with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Friday for a one-on-one interview. However, the interview will not be broadcast live. The first clip will air Friday, with a longer interview scheduled for Sunday, ABC announced.
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2024-07-03 18:15:12
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