Sen. Chuck Schumer, R-New York, had a “frank” private conversation with President Joe Biden over the weekend about the current state of the presidential election, two sources familiar with the conversation told NBC News.
The Senate Majority Leader met privately with the president on Saturday at Biden's home in Rehoboth, Delaware, according to sources. No other staff were in the room when the two spoke one-on-one.
According to sources, Schumer presented the president with polling data that shows the current state of the race and how it will affect the party going forward. Many recent polls reflect President Biden trailing former President Trump in the race for the White House, with Trump leading in several key battleground states. Even though Trump is ahead, much of the polling data is within the margin of error.
The source described Biden and Schumer's conversation as “frank” but did not say whether Schumer directly asked Biden to consider dropping out of the election.
Spokespeople for the White House, the Biden campaign and Republican Leader Chuck Schumer declined to respond directly to questions about whether Schumer had asked Biden to resign, saying it was a private meeting between the two veteran senators.
A spokesman for Schumer said in a statement that reports that he had asked Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race were “unfounded speculation. Leader Schumer conveyed his caucus' views directly to President Biden on Saturday.”
President Biden will hold his first press conference tonight after some in his own party called on him to drop out of his reelection campaign following the presidential debate with former President Donald Trump, NBC New York's Melissa Russo reports.
The meeting between the two men came to light after California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff on Wednesday called on Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.
“I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November,” Schiff said in a statement.
“While it is President Biden's choice whether to withdraw from the campaign trail, I believe now is the time to pass the baton,” said Schiff, the Democratic candidate for California Senate and the favorite to win November's presidential election.
“This will enable us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election and ensure his legacy of leadership,” said Schiff, a close aide to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a former House speaker and ranking Democrat.
Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, which will keep him off the campaign trail for some time.
CNBC's Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
