As President Joe Biden was at his home in Rehoboth Beach recuperating from his latest bout of COVID, sources were busy leaking to the press that high-level Democrats were plotting their latest effort to force him out of the 2024 presidential election.
Sources told reporters from the Washington Post that prominent party leaders, including former President Barack Obama, were expressing concerns that the Democrats could lose the Senate and fail to retake the House if Biden refused to withdraw from the top of the ticket.
Obama reportedly told high-level Democrats that the president had to consider whether his campaign was viable but also insisted that the ultimate decision was Biden’s to make.
Sources said Obama has been fielding calls from Democrat congressional leadership, key donors, and some Democrat governors in recent days who have expressed concerns about Biden remaining in the race.
Meanwhile, sources said that former Speaker Nancy Pelosi had privately told the president that if he did not drop out, the Democrats would be unable to retake the House.
Pelosi reportedly showed the president recent polling to argue that he was unable to defeat Donald Trump in November.
The former speaker denied the claims, describing them as a “feeding frenzy” from anonymous sources that were misrepresenting conversations she might have had with President Biden.
Major donors, especially in California, have been pressuring members of Congress and the campaign to urge the president to drop out. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, however, told donors to take their concerns to the White House.
Some Democrat lawmakers are privately discussing throwing their support behind Vice President Kamala Harris to replace Biden at the top of the ticket.
Last Thursday, Montana Senator Jon Tester, who is facing a tough re-election in November, became the second Senate Democrat to call on the president to withdraw “for the good of the country.”
When asked last Thursday about reports that the president might be softening to the idea of withdrawing from the race, Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks that Biden was “not wavering on anything.”