Two top House Democrats told CBS News they believe Biden could withdraw from the 2024 presidential race within the next three to five days, following a pressure campaign from some of Biden's own party's most powerful members, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The lawmakers did not have an exact timeline for such a move.
The two House members said the tide has turned, and each day that passes without Biden making a decision. Further requests from the Democratic Party Step back.
So far, 22 Democrats have called on Biden to withdraw from reelection. Montana Senator Jon Tester became the second Democratic senator to call for Biden to withdraw, telling the Daily Montanan, “I appreciate his commitment to public service and to our country, but I don't think President Biden should seek reelection.”
Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., also told CBS News on Thursday that he was calling on Biden to “pass the baton to the next generation.”
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland sent Biden a three-and-a-half-page letter dated July 6 that did not explicitly ask him to abandon the nomination but urged him to consider it. “The difficult questions raised about your mental and physical stamina are now not just medical and scientific questions,” he wrote. “They are also political questions, as political leaders and tens of millions of voters are making judgments based on the events of the past few weeks.”
“So the decision you have to make is not just a personal medical decision about how you feel, but also a public political decision about how others feel, because ultimately the public will decide the fate of this election and our very democracy,” Raskin said. Raskin left the final decision to Biden and his family.
But he told the president, “Over the next four and a half months, everything we believe in is at stake. We have an overriding duty to defeat the resurgent forces of monarchy and tyranny. Everything else, even the accomplishments of your great policies, pales in comparison to this struggle.”
Both lawmakers noted they had not received the strongly worded memo that Campaign Chair Jen O'Malley Dillon typically sends declaring the campaign is full steam ahead.
They know that Schumer, Jeffries and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered the bad news to Biden, and they've barely hidden it with vague statements that fall short of denial.
The New York Times quoted an ally of Pelosi as saying she told Biden in a phone call that she had seen polls that showed the president could not win. Biden insisted there were polls showing otherwise.
“Put me on the phone with Mike Donilon. Let me see what the polls are looking at,” Pelosi said, referring to Biden aide Mike Donilon.
A congressional Democratic leader and a Biden campaign official confirmed to CBS News that Ms. Pelosi recently spoke with Mr. Biden by phone to talk about Mr. Obama and his outlook and what she is hearing from Democrats on the floor. Ms. Pelosi has maintained close ties with Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Schumer. While she has kept a quiet voice in meetings with the Democratic caucus, she has shared her views with members privately.
Meanwhile, historian Jon Meacham, who has written many biographies of past presidents, CBS News reporter Robert Costa said: “Reports that I will be doing anything in a speech are completely false,” Meacham wrote in a text message Thursday night. Costa said Meacham is a Biden aide and had been rumored by some Democrats to be preparing an “exit speech.”
There is recognition among Democratic strategists that Biden's withdrawal from the race is inevitable, it's just a matter of timing and structure.
As Raskin pointed out, the decision of whether to run is up to the president, who has the backing of most of the Democratic Party's nominating delegates and its most staunch grassroots supporters.
Robert Costa and Nicole Killion contributed reporting.
Major Garrett
