Biden World resists speculation president will exit race
Biden World is digging its heels in Friday, defiant that President Biden is not dropping out of the 2024 race and touting new endorsements amid speculation that he will end his bid in the coming days.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) became the third senator to call for Biden to move aside on Friday and Reps. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Marc Veasey (D-Texas), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) issued as joint statement also calling for him to step aside. Other calls to drop out this week came from Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), among others, as reports surfaced that former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) are pressuring him to drop out.
While multiple sources have told The Hill it’s unlikely Biden will still be in the race come Monday, his White House and campaign aides are insistent he’s not going anywhere.
“Absolutely, the president’s in this race,” Biden campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said Friday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe," adding that Biden “is more committed than ever to beat Donald Trump.”
“You have heard from the president directly, time and time again: He is in this race to win and he is our nominee and he’s going to be our president for a second term,” she said when pressed on the flurry of reports about Biden potentially stepping aside.
The campaign on Friday morning touted a new endorsement from BOLD PAC, the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, The Hill first reported. And, more than 1,400 Black women and allies indicated their support for Biden and Vice President Harris in a letter Thursday.
A source familiar with the White House staff’s thinking on Friday emphasized the resilience of Biden World and argued that it was doubted in the 2022 midterms and the 2020 Democratic primary but excelled.
“This president and his team are resilient as f‑‑‑. He is committed to staying in this race until he is reelected, period. So is his staff,” the source said, taking a jab at strategists and operatives who have talked to media about Biden dropping out.
“We are also hardly strangers to outlets quoting any human being with a pulse, regardless of whether they have ever spoken to a member of the president’s senior staff, if their comments meet a preferred narrative. The flash mob of randos claiming that there are any plans to do anything besides run this race and win are wrong,” the source said.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Biden campaign are also insistent on moving forward with plans to nominate Biden through a virtual roll call ahead of the convention, which begins Aug. 19.
The DNC said Wednesday that no virtual voting will start until Aug. 1, despite warnings from House Democrats about moving ahead at all with the plans. The plans were initially made to ensure Biden appears on the ballot in Ohio, which had a deadline to certify the party’s presidential nominee after the convention. But, on June 2, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed legislation to extend the deadline from Aug. 7 to Aug. 31, after the convention.
The full steam ahead plan to nominate Biden, despite speculation within his party, is consistent with the assertions this week that the president isn’t dropping out.
The Biden campaign said he is “more determined than ever” to beat former President Trump in November after the former president’s speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday.
O’Malley Dillon, in a statement, argued Biden is running “for an America where we defend democracy, not diminish it. Where we restore our rights and protect our freedoms, not take them away.”
And, Friday morning, the campaign reiterated in a memo that Biden will be the Democratic nominee.
The president is in Rehoboth Beach, Del., isolating at his beach house after testing positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday while campaign in Las Vegas. There is nothing on Biden’s schedule for Friday.
The campaign spent the week of the Republican National Convention criticizing Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), and aligning them with Project 2025, a set of policy proposals organized by the Heritage Foundation. Trump, though, has attempted to distance himself from Project 2025 and his team has disavowed it.
Harris, who has been staunchly supportive of Biden, warned in a speech in North Carolina on Thursday about the stakes of November's election in and about Vance and his policy plans. She was campaigning alongside North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), who is seen as a top potential running mate for Harris if Biden were to step aside.
Updated at 12:13 p.m.