This post has been updated.
One Democrat had the courage to tell Biden to his face that he needed to go. It was during a call with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that quickly devolved into chaos, according to NOTUS. The president has been working to shore up support as significant swaths of the party have been shaken by his disastrous debate performance on June 27. Three-fourths of the country think Biden is too old to be effective, with the president’s approvals settling in the mid-30s. As of today, Donald Trump is heading toward reclaiming his old job.
Biden's meeting with Hispanic lawmakers marked by chaos after the president joined the Zoom call an hour late, several frontline members denied questions and meeting ended abruptly after Biden told directly to withdraw from race.https://t.co/imMEg0Tuzt
— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) July 12, 2024
To cope, Biden refuses to believe the polls. That denialism leeches into his inner circle and campaign operation. Yet, during this call with the CHC, Biden was an hour late, and no one could ask questions, part of the ongoing narrative about the president’s public events and media interviews being edited and staged to prevent unflattering exchanges from leaking out. Only two were permitted, but Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) was able to tell Biden that he needed to step aside, which led to the call being shut down:
NEW: Inside the meeting between Biden and CHC:
— Reese Gorman (@reesejgorman) July 12, 2024
- Biden showed up an hour late to the Zoom
- Frontliners MGP and Gabe Vasquez tried to ask questions but were denied
- Levin told Biden to step aside
- Call ended right after Biden responded to Levinhttps://t.co/p4QtmEamty
Fox confirms that Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) directly called on President Biden to remove himself from the 2024 race today. This came during a conference call where the President spoke with Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 12, 2024
As President Joe Biden tries to talk with Democratic lawmakers and relieve their concerns, a virtual meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Friday appears to have caused more problems than it solved.
For starters, Biden showed up an hour late to the Zoom call, according to a source familiar with the meeting, and it didn’t get much better from there.
Organizers of the Zoom meeting had said only two members were allowed to ask questions — Reps. Sylvia Garcia and Lou Correa — but Biden opened the floor up to more questions, the source familiar with the call told NOTUS. At least the president tried to open up the meeting to more questions.
[…]
But one Democrat who did get to speak was Rep. Mike Levin. Levin’s question, however, was more of a comment: He said it was time for someone else to lead the party, and he called on Biden to step down.
The Biden campaign declined to provide further comment. What a mess.
Confirming Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, the only House Dem to to suggest Biden should resign as well as step aside, was rejected a question in the CHC call.
— Mica Soellner (@MicaSoellnerDC) July 12, 2024
She kept using the raise hand feature and it was continuously lowered by campaign officials, per person familiar.
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UPDATE: Biden's reported response to Levin. It's insane. Sorry, Biden has never and will never accomplish as much as FDR. That's a lie, Joe. Also, you haven't done much other than make everyone poorer:
New: here is what Joe Biden said back to Mike Levin when Levin called on Biden to step aside during Biden’s call with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus per source: pic.twitter.com/pnjqI4B7I6
— Annie Grayer (@AnnieGrayerCNN) July 12, 2024
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