US President Joe Biden has pledged to “campaign to the end” in the November election despite private calls from some Democrats to withdraw.
Biden said in a letter to congressional Democrats on Monday that he “would not run again if I were not absolutely convinced” that he could defeat Donald Trump.
The letter was sent after a group conference call with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, according to media reports including BBC US partner CBS News , four members of Congress explicitly urged Biden to step down.
CBS added that others had joined the four in expressing concerns about Biden’s fitness for public office after his poor performance at recent debates, but stopped short of asking the president to clear a path.
Scrutiny of Biden’s candidacy is expected to intensify on Monday as lawmakers return to Capitol Hill. The president will also be in the spotlight in the coming days as he hosts a summit of NATO leaders in Washington.
Biden said in the letter that he “hears people’s concerns” and is “not blind” but that Democratic voters in the primary have “clearly and decisively made it clear” that he should run.
“This is a process open to anyone who wants to run,” Biden wrote. “Democratic voters have already voted. They have chosen me as the party’s nominee.”
“Are we now just saying this process is irrelevant? Voters have no say… I refuse to do that,” he added. “How can we preserve democracy in our country if we ignore it in our own party? I can’t do that. I won’t do that.”
In addition to the letter, the president called MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to tell host Joe Scarborough that he was “not going anywhere.”
U.S. media reports were slightly divided on what Democratic representatives said in a private conversation with Jeffries on Sunday.
Jerry Nadler, Mark Takano and Adam Smith all said Biden should step down, according to multiple media outlets citing people who were on the call or familiar with the conversations.
Joe Morrell added his voice, according to CBS and the New York Times, but the AP said the fourth person was Jim Himes.
Others expressed concern about Biden’s chances of defeating Trump in the election. None of the representatives commented publicly.
Longstanding questions about Biden’s age escalated after a televised exchange with Donald Trump last month, in which the president stumbled over some answers or appeared to lose his train of thought.
The Biden campaign offered various explanations, including that the president had a cold and was exhausted from traveling.
A day later, Biden appeared defiant at a rally in Wisconsin, though that did little to calm the fears of some allies. Last week, Lloyd Doggett became the first Democrat in Congress to urge Biden to step down.
He got public responses from at least four colleagues last week and later privately from four more who reportedly made their views known to Mr Jeffries on Sunday.
Trump praised Biden’s erratic performance, calling his opponent “broken” last week. He is three years younger than Biden as he works to return to the White House, despite his recent conviction in a New York hush-money criminal case.
As speculation grows about Biden’s candidacy in November, the thoughts of some Democrats are turning to who could replace him.
Some party members have rallied around Vice President Kamala Harris, who currently serves as Biden’s running mate in November.
Another representative, Adam Schiff, said Ms Harris could defeat Trump “overwhelmingly”, although he also stopped short of telling Mr Biden to withdraw in an interview with NBC News.
Trump suggested the vice president would be “better” than Biden but still “pathetic,” a clear sign that he is turning his sights on Harris.
Biden and his allies have spent recent days insisting that he is still capable of defeating Trump in a second consecutive election — even as they reportedly realize that the coming days and weeks will be critical to saving his campaign important.
In two interviews last week, Biden acknowledged that he “screwed up” but later vowed that only “God Almighty” could convince him to end his bid to win another White House.
In an interview with ABC News on Friday, the president refused to take a cognitive test and make the results public to reassure voters that he is fit for re-election.
“I take cognitive tests every day,” he said. “I test every day – everything I do [is a test]”.
