The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Biden tells key ally he is weighing whether to continue in elections
Donors have been informing party leaders, White House that they think Biden should step down
PRESIDENT BIDEN has told a key ally that he knows he may not be able to salvage his candidacy if he cannot convince the public in the coming days that he is up for the job after a disastrous debate performance last week.
The president, who the ally emphasized is still deeply in the fight for re-election, understands that his next few appearances heading into the holiday weekend must go well, particularly an interview scheduled for Friday with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News and campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, said the report was “absolutely false” and that the White House had not been given enough time to respond.
Theconversationisthefirstindicationtobecomepublicthatthe presidentisseriouslyconsidering whether he can recover after a devastating performance on the debate stage in Atlanta on Thursday. A top adviser to Biden said the president was “well aware of the political challenge.”
Campaign officials were nervously awaiting the results of an internal poll Wednesday, recognizing that bad numbers could fuel the crisis. A CBS News poll released Wednesday showed former President Donald Trump edging ahead of Biden since the debate with 50 percent to 48 percent nationally and 51 percent to 48 percent in battleground states.
Biden has been slow to personally reach out to key
Democrats, which has fueled anger in the party and frustrated some of his own advisers. He called only Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Housedemocraticleadertuesday night and still had not spoken with Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader. Key donors expressed exasperation thathedidnotjoinacampaigncall Monday meant to assuage them. Biden has told at least one person that he is open to the possibility thatplanstomoveonfromhisdebate — and flip the focus back to Trump — may not work.
Some of the president’s advisers have grown increasingly pessimistic in the past day as the unrest in the party has continued to grow, a reflection of unhappiness not just over the debate but the handling of it since then.
Biden’s team had sought to
RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE
persuading elected Democrats and party figures not to publicly call on him to drop out. But Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first Democrat Congressman to say Tuesday that Biden should step aside, and others have indicated that they may followsuit.keypartydonorshave been privately calling House members, Senators, super PACS and the White House to say that they think Biden should step down,accordingtodemocratsfamiliar with the discussion.