Saturday’s assassination attempt at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, temporarily halted the public “replace Biden” discussion as Democratic politicians suddenly had to navigate a sensitive national moment, but conversation has begun anew with several prominent voices joining their ranks both officially and behind closed doors.
CNN reported Wednesday that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently spoke with Biden in private, telling him that the polls are showing him that he can’t win in November. When the president pushed back on her characterization, Pelosi, who is considered one of the party’s most savvy politicians, reportedly asked Biden’s top adviser Mike Donilon to get on the phone with them to talk about polling. A top ally of the former Speaker told Politico she could even resort to public pressure to get Biden to leave the ticket. “The Speaker does not want to call on him to resign, but she will do everything in her power to make sure it happens,” they said.
However, a Pelosi spokesman has denied the reporting. “Speaker Pelosi respects the confidentiality of her meetings and conversations with the President of the United States. Sadly, the feeding frenzy from the press based on anonymous sources misrepresents any conversations the Speaker may have had with the President,” they said in a statement to Bloomberg News.
She and former president Barack Obama have reportedly spoken privately, both voicing concerns about Biden’s ability to defeat Trump. The Washington Post reported Thursday that Obama has told allies in private that Biden needs to consider if his candidacy is even viable, citing signs that he lacks a clear path to victory in November.
The current party leadership has also voiced their members’ concerns directly to Biden. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have both spoken to the president privately in recent days and told him that many in their caucuses fear that Biden’s presence on the ticket could prevent Democrats from winning control of the House and Senate next year, per the Washington Post. Both meetings were made public, but statements issued from both leaders’ offices at the time were slim on details.
Biden is also feeling the pressure from his favorite pundits. MSNBC’s Morning Joe, of which the president is an avid watcher, has taken a notably different tone when discussing Biden’s chances, with host Joe Scarborough suggesting Thursday morning that Biden’s team is intentionally keeping him in a bubble and hiding bad campaign news from him. And if that weren’t enough, Biden was diagnosed with COVID-19 Wednesday, taking him off the campaign trail as his rival Trump and his newly announced running mate Ohio senator J.D. Vance are being fêted at the RNC. However, a senior official tells ABC News that Biden plans to return to campaigning next week.
There are some who believe that Biden is listening to his critics. “He’s gone from saying, ‘Kamala can’t win’ to ‘Do you think Kamala can win?” a senior Democratic adviser told CNN. “It’s still unclear where he’s going to land but seems to be listening.” Axios reports that some top Democrats believe the pressure could make Biden decide to drop out as early as this weekend with one person close to the president telling NBC News, “We’re close to the end.” However, the Biden campaign has shot down that reporting. “Our campaign is not working through any scenarios where President Biden is not at the top of the ticket,” deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks told CBS News.
