go through Gareth Evans and Keira Epstein, BBC News, Washington and New York
U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyU.S. President Joe Biden held meetings with top Democrats and an all-hands call with his campaign on Wednesday in an effort to calm party nerves surrounding his re-election bid.
Mr. Biden held a routine closed-door lunch with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House amid speculation about whether she will replace him as the party’s nominee in the November election.
The two later took part in a conference call with the broader Democratic campaign, with Mr Biden making clear he would remain in the race and Ms Harris reaffirming her support. “I’m the Democratic nominee. No one is kicking me out. I’m not leaving,” a source told BBC News by phone.
The Biden-Harris campaign repeated the same language in a fundraising email sent hours later. “Let me say it as clearly and simply as possible: I am running,” Biden said in the email, adding that he “will be in this campaign until the end.”
Questions have been raised about the 81-year-old following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump last week that was marked by blank spaces, weak voices and some incomprehensible answers. whether to continue his campaign. That sparked concerns in Democratic circles about his fitness for office and his ability to win elections.
In the days since, pressure has mounted on Biden to withdraw as more polls show his Republican opponent’s lead growing. A New York Times poll released after the debate on Wednesday showed Trump leading by 6 percentage points.
Another poll released by BBC America partner CBS News showed Trump leading Biden by three points in key battleground states. The poll also showed the former president leading nationally.
Some Democratic donors and lawmakers have publicly called on the president to step aside, adding to the damaging polling. Ramesh Kapur is an Indian-American industrialist from Massachusetts who has organized fundraisers for the Democratic Party since 1988. . “I know he’s motivated, but you can’t fight Mother Nature.”
Two Democrats in Congress have also called for changes at the party’s top levels. In the latest news, Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva told the New York Times that it’s time for Democrats to “look elsewhere.”
Still, the White House and Biden campaign have strongly denied reports that he is actively weighing his future and say he is committed to defeating Trump for a second time on November 5.
The New York Times and CNN reported Wednesday that Biden told an unnamed ally that he was evaluating whether to stay in the race. Both reports said the president has told allies he knows his reelection bid is in jeopardy and that his upcoming appearances — including an interview with ABC News and a rally in Wisconsin on Friday — are very important to his campaign. important.
Shortly before White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre faced a series of questions about Biden’s campaign promises, a spokesperson denied the reports were “absolutely false.” She said reports that he might quit were untrue: “We asked the president [and] The president responded directly… and said, “No, this is absolutely false.” This comes directly from him.
Biden will meet with 20 Democratic governors from across the country later Wednesday, including California Governor Gavin Newsom and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Both are considered potential replacements if Biden steps down.
But Ms Harris is still considered the most likely replacement. The 59-year-old has been hampered by low approval ratings, but her support among Democrats has increased since Biden’s debate with Trump.
Immediately after the debate, the vice president gave an interview to CNN and appeared calm, expressing his full support for the president. “She hasn’t changed anything,” a source close to Ms Harris told BBC News, adding that she would continue to represent the campaign on the road.
“She has always been committed to being a good partner to the president,” said Jamal Simmons, Ms. Harris’s former communications director. “The people who end up deciding on nominees are mostly people who are committed to him. Her best The role is to be his partner.”
Members of the Democratic National Committee are responsible for voting at the national convention in August to officially make President Biden the party’s nominee and put him on the ballot across the country.
One member who spoke to other delegates and requested anonymity to speak candidly about sensitive discussions told the BBC that if Biden chooses not to run, the nomination should go to Vice President Harris. “If we open the General Assembly, it will create pure chaos, which will hurt us in November,” they said.
Meanwhile, a report in the Washington Post said that Biden and his team realize that he must prove his fitness for public office in the coming days. He attended a Medal of Honor ceremony Wednesday and plans to travel to Wisconsin and Philadelphia later this week.
Courtney Subramanian, Adam Levy and Brajesh Upadhyay contributed to this report
