{"id":17211,"date":"2024-07-09T00:10:23","date_gmt":"2024-07-08T23:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/?p=17211"},"modified":"2024-07-09T00:10:23","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T23:10:23","slug":"biden-defies-calls-to-drop-reelection-bid-urges-democratic-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedailyleaks.com\/biden-defies-calls-to-drop-reelection-bid-urges-democratic-unity\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden defies calls to drop reelection bid, urges Democratic unity"},"content":{"rendered":"
President Joe Biden, in an open letter to congressional Democrats<\/a>, stood firm Monday against calls for him to drop his reelection candidacy and called for an end to the intraparty drama that has torn apart Democrats since his\u00a0dismal public debate performance<\/a>.<\/p>\n Biden’s efforts to shore up a deeply anxious Democratic Party came as lawmakers returned to Washington confronting a choice: Work to revive his campaign or try to edge out the party leader, a make-or-break time for his campaign and their own\u00a0political futures<\/a>.<\/p>\n Biden wrote in the two-page letter that \u201cthe question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it\u2019s time for it to end.\u201d He stressed that the party has \u201cone job,\u201d which is to defeat presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in November.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the general election,\u201d Biden said in the letter, distributed by his reelection campaign. \u201cAny weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It\u2019s time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Anxiety is running high as top-ranking Democratic lawmakers are joining calls for Biden to step aside despite his defiance. At the same time, some of the president\u2019s most staunch supporters are redoubling the fight for Biden\u2019s presidency, insisting there\u2019s no one better to beat Trump in what many see as among the most important elections of a lifetime.<\/p>\n Biden followed up the letter with a phone interview with MSNBC\u2019s \u201cMorning Joe\u201d show, in which he insisted that \u201caverage Democrats\u201d want him to stay in the race and said he was frustrated by the calls from party officials for him to step aside.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re big names, but I don\u2019t care what those big names think,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n ALSO READ:\u00a0Biden, Trump clash over responsibility for US inflation spike<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n He threw the gauntlet at his critics, saying if they\u2019re serious they ought to \u201cannounce for president, challenge me at the convention\u201d or rally behind him against Trump. Later, Biden joined a call with members of his national finance committee, while\u00a0first lady Jill Biden<\/a>\u00a0campaigned for her husband in a three-state swing focused on engaging veterans and military families.<\/p>\n \u201cFor all the talk out there about this race, Joe has made it clear that he\u2019s all in,\u201d she told a military crowd in Wilmington, North Carolina. \u201cThat\u2019s the decision that he\u2019s made, and just as he has always supported my career, I am all in, too.”<\/p>\n Democratic voters are split on whether Biden should remain the Democratic Party\u2019s nominee for president, or whether there should be a different Democratic nominee,\u00a0according to a New York Times\/Siena College poll<\/a>.<\/p>\n More voices spoke up Monday, including the chair of the House\u2019s Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who was not ready to cast aside Biden, saying that the threat of a second Trump presidency remains too high. Yet one of the most endangered Democrats this election cycle, Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, said in a statement, \u201cPresident Biden has got to prove to the American people\u2014including me\u2014that he\u2019s up to the job for another four years.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Biden\u2019s letter left some House Democrats, who want to hear directly from Biden himself, furious, according to one House aide granted anonymity to discuss the situation. Lawmakers particularly bristled at being cast as out of touch with voters since representatives in particular have been home in their districts listening to voters.<\/p>\n Biden planned to meet virtually Monday with the Congressional Black Caucus \u2014 one of his staunchest blocs of supporters in Congress. The White House would not say whether Biden would meet with all Democratic lawmakers in person at the Capitol this week.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden had undergone\u00a0three neurological exams<\/a>\u00a0while in the White House as part of his annual physical exams \u2014 and no more \u2014 and said the president has not been diagnosed with or treated for Parkinson\u2019s.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a tenuous and highly volatile juncture for the president\u2019s party. Democrats who have worked alongside Biden for years \u2014 if not decades \u2014 and cherished his life’s work on policy priorities are now entertaining uncomfortable questions about his political future. And it’s unfolding as Biden hosts world leaders for\u00a0the NATO summit<\/a>\u00a0this week in Washington.<\/p>\n The drama is playing out with just over a month until the Democratic National Convention and just a week before Republicans gather in Milwaukee to\u00a0renominate Trump<\/a>\u00a0as their presidential pick. Many Democrats are arguing the attention needs to be focused not on Biden but on the former president’s felony conviction in the hush money case and pending\u00a0federal charges<\/a>\u00a0in his effort to\u00a0overturn the 2020 election<\/a>.<\/p>\n In an effort to \u201cget on the same page,\u201d House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is convening lawmakers for private meetings before he shows his own preference, according to a person familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it. He planned to gather on Monday some Democrats whose bids for reelection are most vulnerable.<\/p>\n Rep. Adam Smith of Washington the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, went public Monday with his call for Biden to step aside, saying it would be \u201ca mistake\u201d if Biden continues his campaign. “I\u2019m calling on President Biden to step down,\u201d Smith said on social media.<\/p>\n Biden\u2019s allies said they expected more direct engagement from the president with lawmakers \u2014 like the CBC virtual meeting \u2014 as he scrambles to shore up his candidacy. On a call Saturday with his campaign co-chairs, Biden repeatedly asked them, who else needs to hear from him, who else he needs to engage with and who still has unanswered questions or concerns, according to Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is out there doing his job as a candidate and doing his job as president,\u201d Coons said.<\/p>\n Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer would not answer questions about Biden\u2019s reelection as he entered the Capitol on Monday, but he told reporters: \u201cAs I\u2019ve said before, I\u2019m for Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n The Senate\u2019s No. 2 Democrat, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, was more cautious.<\/p>\n \u201cI watched the debate, it raised a lot of questions,\u201d Durbin said. \u201cHe is trying to answer those questions. In some respects he\u2019s done it very effectively, in other respects not as effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n One Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, had intended to gather senators Monday to discuss Biden privately, but a person familiar with his thinking said those conversations will take place in Tuesday\u2019s regular caucus luncheon with all Democratic senators.<\/p>\n \u201cWith so much at stake in the upcoming election, now is the time for conversations about the strongest path forward,” Warner said in a statement Monday.<\/p>\n Another Democrat, Sen. Alex Padilla of California, said it was \u201ctime to quit the hand-wringing and get back to door knocking.\u201d<\/p>\n While some deep-pocketed donors may be showing discomfort, strategists working on House and Senate races said they have posted record fundraising as donors view congressional Democrats as a \u201cfirewall\u201d and last line of defense against Trump.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" July 8, 2024 President Joe Biden, in an open letter to congressional Democrats, stood firm Monday against calls for him to drop his reelection candidacy and called for an end to the intraparty drama that […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17214,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2,7],"tags":[853,127],"coauthors":[25],"class_list":{"0":"post-17211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest-news","8":"category-top-news","9":"category-world","10":"tag-democrats","11":"tag-joe-biden"},"yoast_head":"\n