Biden speaks with progressive lawmakers to try to shore up support
REHOBOTH, DEL— President Biden spoke with progressive lawmakers on Saturday, asking them for help and advice as he works to shore up support for his reelection bid amid growing calls for him to drop out.
“I'll be in Las Vegas next week, and I'm going to need your help to and advice on how we should be doing what I'm going to be doing there. Want to make sure we have a closer working relationship, because we're in this together,” Biden said during his virtual meeting with the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), according to a source familiar with the call.
The source added that the president shared with the CPC that he has a “major” Supreme Court reform policy coming.
“I mean, if this guy wins, he's not, and now, especially with that Supreme Court giving him the kind of breadth of – I don’t need to get into the Supreme Court right now – anyway, but I need your help,” he said to the CPC, referring to former President Trump. “I need your advice, and I want to make sure we have a closer working relationship, because we're in this together. You've always been the ones who stepped up.”
He then took questions from the group. The president is in Rehoboth, Del., for the weekend and held the calls with lawmakers from his beach house.
CPC chair Pramila Jayapal (Wash.) said after the meeting that the conversation was “productive and engaging” and that the members of the caucus shared their concerns with the president.
“The President has been a champion for working people and families across the country and throughout his time in office and we have been proud to partner with him in passing major legislation to cut costs and raise wages. We spoke frankly to the President about our concerns and asked tough questions about the path forward,” she said in a statement.
Jayapal added that the members appreciated Biden’s “ willingness to thoughtfully answer and address” questions.
“As a caucus, we will continue working to do everything in our power to defeat Donald Trump and promote our Proposition Agenda – a slate of day one, popular and populist policies to deliver for the people,” she said.
Following that call, Biden spoke with members of the New Democrat Coalition, a centrist group of lawmakers that includes multiple members who have called on Biden to step aside as the nominee.
Eighteen Democrats in Congress have publicly called on Biden to step aside as the nominee, while several others have expressed concerns about his ability to beat Trump in November.
He spoke on Friday with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) in meetings arranged through each group’s campaign arm. And, he spoke with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) Thursday night.