- Both Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have discussed with Biden the consequences of continuing the campaign.
- Schumer and Jeffries shared concerns about Biden’s impact on lower-level elections.
- Biden is facing growing pressure to withdraw after poor debate and public performances.
ABC News Washington bureau chief Jonathan Karl reported that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had a “candid, one-on-one conversation” with President Joe Biden on Saturday, a story quickly followed by the Washington Post and Axios.
The topic of conversation? Biden’s impact on other Democrats running in November.
Schumer’s office responded to the report: “Unless ABC’s source is Senator Chuck Schumer or President Joe Biden, this report is unsubstantiated speculation,” Schumer’s office said in a statement. “Leader Schumer conveyed his caucus’ views directly to President Biden on Saturday.”
His office did not immediately respond to a follow-up question from Business Insider asking whether the message from his caucus was to withdraw from the race.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had a similar conversation with Biden on Thursday, The Washington Post and ABC reported.
According to the Post, two Democratic leaders expressed party members’ concerns that Trump’s candidacy could negatively impact lower-level races and potentially cost them House and Senate seats.
Late Wednesday night, CNN reported that Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker Emeritus, had spoken to Biden sometime last week and said that polls showed Biden would lose to Trump, which could hurt Democrats’ chances in Congress. CNN cited four people familiar with the conversation.
Sen. Peter Welch is the only senator to publicly call for Biden to drop out of the race, but Sen. Michael Bennet has said publicly that he doesn’t believe Biden can win.
On Wednesday, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, who is running for Senate, became the most prominent Democrat to call on the president to drop out of the race.
Pelosi has reportedly been working behind the scenes to get Biden to back out.
After a dismal performance in last month’s debate and a series of subsequent public remarks and interviews that have failed to reassure his supporters, Biden, 81, is coming under growing pressure to step aside and let Democrats choose a nominee at their convention in August.
Publicly, Biden has been adamant that he has no plans to drop out of the race, but CNN reported on Wednesday that a senior Democratic adviser said Biden was “open to” talking to lawmakers about dropping out of the race and that the president is “not as defiant as he says in public.”
“He’s gone from saying, ‘Kamala can’t win,’ to saying, ‘Do you think Kamala can win?'” the adviser said, according to CNN. “It remains to be seen where he’ll land, but it seems he’s listening.”
The White House and Biden’s campaign did not respond to Business Insider’s requests for comment on CNN’s report.
