Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images
U.S. President Joe Biden departed from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, and boarded Air Force One on July 17, 2024, en route to Delaware.
CNN
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President Joe Biden, on his way back to Delaware from Las Vegas on Wednesday night after cutting short a trip after testing positive for COVID-19, is facing one of the most consequential decisions of his long political life: Should he heed the growing calls from Democrats calling for him to abandon his bid for reelection?
Could this be a new moment for Biden?
While anger and panic have been steadily building within the Democratic Party for nearly three weeks following the president’s stunning performance in the Atlanta debate, the White House and Biden’s campaign are in a new situation, multiple Democratic officials told CNN.
“Private discussions with Congress are ongoing,” a senior Democratic adviser told CNN on the condition of anonymity to avoid straining relations between the campaign and the White House. “Trump has shown he is receptive. He’s not been as defiant as he has been in public.”
“He’s gone from saying, ‘Kamala can’t win,’ to saying, ‘Do you think Kamala can win?'” the adviser said. “It remains to be seen where he’ll land, but he seems to be listening.”
The comments come at a crucial time for the Biden campaign. ABC News’ Jonathan Karl reports. Earlier in the day, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was reported to have told Biden on Saturday that it would be best for him to withdraw from the presidential race.
In a statement in response to the ABC News report, a spokesperson for Schumer said, “Unless ABC’s source is Senator Chuck Schumer or President Joe Biden, the report is unsubstantiated speculation. Leader Schumer conveyed his caucus’ views directly to President Biden on Saturday.”
But the statement did not include three key words that Schumer has said every time he’s been asked whether Biden should continue to run: “I’m with Joe.”
Schumer and Biden’s private meeting on Saturday at the president’s vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, was seen by Democratic officials as one of the most crucial moments in the escalating drama.
Early Wednesday, Rep. Adam Schiff, who is running for Senate in California, became the latest prominent member of Biden’s party to call on the president to drop out of the race, becoming the first Democrat to do so publicly in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
