UPDATE: Biden has dropped out.
Any discussions below are now moot. The besieged president has now endorsed VP Kamala Harris.
***
This week was a disaster for Democrats. The gloves came off from the party’s heavyweights. They tried to do this quietly and with dignity. Now, they need to embarrass the president, who is recovering from COVID in Delaware, who refuses to see that he’s dragging the entire ticket down. Joe Biden has remained defiant, saying yesterday he plans to return to the trail next week. Yet, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Barack Obama have other plans but are still trying to dump Joe, and time is quickly running out.
@MarkHalperin, citing Democratic sources, reports that "Joe Biden has agreed to withdraw from the presidential race this weekend.” He will praise, but not endorse, Kamala Harris, and will support an open convention. pic.twitter.com/0wRuILvBal
— 2WAY (@2waytvapp) July 19, 2024
BREAKING NEWS: Multiples sources outline the apparent state of play on Biden at this time:
— Mark Halperin (@MarkHalperin) July 18, 2024
* plans to announce withdrawal from nomination as early as this weekend, with Sunday most likely
* Jon Meacham polishing up remarks
* Biden with NOT resign the presidency
* Biden will… https://t.co/l0LrfDTvOL
The two leaders told Biden they were delivering the views privately but the messages might not necessarily stay that way. They became public after the two leaders grew frustrated that they did not think Biden was listening to them. https://t.co/ttdE4A7Q7G
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) July 18, 2024
#BREAKING: BIG developments in the push to have Biden drop out....
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 19, 2024
- CNN's Jeff Zeleny said "a Democratic governor" believes "the next 72 hours are big" for Biden and "this can't go on much longer".
- CNN's John King added Democratic governors have held another strategy call… pic.twitter.com/06QbSxiixd
NEWS: Historian Jon Meacham to me just now via text: “the report about my doing anything with a speech is totally false.”
— Robert Costa (@costareports) July 19, 2024
Comes as Meacham is being talked about by some Democrats as a Biden confidant who might be working on an “exit the race speech” for President Biden.
Reports that the president might accept that he needs to step aside poured in last night. The rumors have infuriated Biden, but now there’s a new front emerging: his own cabinet (via Bloomberg):
NEWS: Some members of Biden’s CABINET have had private discussions about whether it’s now time for his closest advisors to reckon with him about his increasingly dim electoral prospects, I'm told. Story on Bloomberg's @TheTerminal
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) July 19, 2024
Some members of President Joe Biden’s cabinet have had private discussions among themselves as to whether it’s now time for his closest advisors to reckon with him about his increasingly dim electoral prospects, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The top-tier officials aren’t themselves trying to push Biden aside, but have discussed whether his 2024 reelection campaign has reached a breaking point, according to the individual, who was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. The cabinet members acknowledged in their talks that voters have questions around the president’s health and ability to defeat ex-President Donald Trump a second time.
[…]
The resulting pressure campaign has left Biden’s reelection effort even further bloodied, and fanned widespread speculation across Washington that he could drop his reelection bid in the coming days.
[…]
The White House declined to comment. But a second person familiar with the conversation stressed that there had been no suggestion Biden was not equipped to serve out the remainder of his term, or that the cabinet might take action to remove him from power.
Biden hasn’t met with his cabinet since October 2, 2023. Even then, it was a staged event. One member told NBC News’ Chuck Todd they’d be shocked if Biden ran again, adding that the condition of the president’s health is unknown since meetings are infrequent.
There are serious forces at work trying to get Biden out of the race. He has the delegates, the war chest, and the institution, but it means little when the entire party works to undercut you. Stay tuned.
So they basically held an intervention with Biden, and it didn't work, so now they're leaking the details publicly. pic.twitter.com/bXAnjTXekv
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) July 18, 2024
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