WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — As President Joe Biden recovers from COVID-19 at his Delaware home, calls for him to withdraw his 2024 election campaign grow louder.
Democrats worried about Biden’s ability to win this November are making a renewed push for him to reconsider his reelection bid, using mountains of data, frank conversations and now, his own time off the campaign trail after testing positive for COVID, to encourage a reassessment.
Biden has insisted he is not backing down, adamant that he is the candidate who beat former President Donald Trump before and will do it again this year. But publicly and privately, key Democrats are sending signals of concern and some hope he will assess the trajectory of the race and his legacy during this few days’ pause.
Pressure on Biden to withdraw
The president recently held calls with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of whom suggested to Biden it would be best for him to withdraw his campaign, according to an ABC News report.
The call between Biden and Schumer reportedly occurred last weekend and brought a frank discussion about the president’s chances of victory, according to ABC News.
However, Schumer’s office pushed back on the report, telling NewsNation, “Unless ABC’s source is Senator Chuck Schumer or President Joe Biden, the reporting is idle speculation. Leader Schumer conveyed the views of his caucus directly to President Biden on Saturday.”
Biden’s team also pushed back on the speculation.
“The President told both leaders he is the nominee of the party, he plans to win and looks forward to working with both of them to pass his 100-day agenda to help working families,” the statement said.
On Wednesday, a new report from The New York Times said that Biden has recently been more receptive to arguments as to why he should drop out. According to sources, the president has been willing to listen to unfavorable polling data, even asking about Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances of winning.
California Rep. Adam Schiff, who is running for the Senate, joined a list of almost two dozen congressional lawmakers who are calling on Biden to withdraw from the race.
Supporters like The Congressional Black Caucus continue to stand by Biden, as well as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer who posted highlights of the president’s accomplishments to social media Wednesday.
What could lead Biden to drop out?
Although Biden has vowed to stay in the race, he spoke with BET about what could potentially prompt him to drop out.
The president said that if he was diagnosed with a medical condition or medical problem where it would hinder his ability to serve as the commander-in-chief, he would consider dropping out of the race.
“When I ran, I said I was going to be a transitional candidate. I thought I would be able to move on this and pass it on to someone else. But I didn’t anticipate things getting so divided,” Biden said.
He continued, “Quite frankly, the only thing that age brings is a little bit of wisdom, and I think I’ve demonstrated that I know how to get things done.”
Biden support declining: Data
NewsNation obtained a draft analysis memo from BlueLabs Analytics being circulated by Democratic political consultants and pollsters, showing declining support for Biden.
The survey involved 15,000 voters from seven battleground states interviewed earlier this month.
Some of the findings include alternative candidates running ahead of Biden by an average of 3 percentage points in battleground states, with the report noting how nearly every tested Democrat performed better than the president.
It also found voters want a fresh face in the White House. Support among young voters and independents could grow if Biden withdraws, the analysis concluded.
Almost two-thirds of Democrats believe Biden should withdraw from the race and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to a new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. That sharply undercuts Biden’s post-debate claim that “average Democrats” are still with him even if some “big names” are turning on him.
The president did see strong support from Black Democrats, with half of Black Democrats saying he should keep running compared to just 3 in 10 white and Hispanic Democrats.
Democrats question nominating Biden
The Democratic National Committee announced that a virtual vote to officially nominate Biden for reelection will not take place until August at the earliest.
The timing of the Democratic National Convention — Aug. 19-22 — became an issue after Ohio originally set an early August deadline for state ballots to be finalized, possibly leading to Biden or whoever gets nominated by Democrats being left off the ballot in the state.
However, the state later pushed the deadline to the end of the month.
Some House Democrats have raised concerns about rushing through the nomination process and holding a virtual roll call vote before the convention.
The Democratic National Committee’s rulemaking arm is set to meet Friday to discuss how the virtual vote plans will work and to finalize them next week.
“We will not be implementing a rushed virtual voting process, though we will begin our important consideration of how a virtual voting process would work,” Bishop Leah D. Daughtry and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, co-chairs of the rules committee for the Democratic National Convention, wrote in a letter Wednesday.
It remains unknown when that nomination vote will take place.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.