Joe Biden held a face-to-face meeting with Kamala Harris on Wednesday, as more polls showed him losing ground to Donald Trump and speculation swirled about the vice-president replacing him in the White House race.
Biden’s closed-door lunch with Harris at the White House came hours before the president was set to meet more than 20 influential Democratic governors, including California governor Gavin Newsom and Illinois governor JB Pritzker, who are seen as possible successors if the president withdraws from the race.
The talks with key Democrats came days after the president’s disastrous debate performance sparked panic in the party about his fitness for office and ability to beat Trump in this year’s election. The White House and Biden campaign have insisted that the president will remain in the race.
But pressure mounted on the president on Wednesday, with new calls from within the party for him to drop out and polls showing a sharp fall in support for his candidacy in recent days.
A group of national security-focused moderate Democratic House members have drafted a letter urging Biden to withdraw from the race, according to one person familiar with the effort. Bloomberg News first reported that dozens of Democratic lawmakers were privately considering signing a letter demanding Biden step aside.
At the same time, Arizona Democratic congressman Raúl Grijalva on Wednesday became the second House member to publicly call for Biden to suspend his re-election bid.
“This is an opportunity to look elsewhere,” Grijalva told The New York Times. “What [Biden] needs to do is shoulder the responsibility . . . part of that responsibility is to get out of the race.”
“It is unfair, and it is unfortunate, but he is on the clock,” said one veteran Democratic strategist. “He has to show that he is up to this campaign, this election, and can beat Donald Trump.”
Polls for The New York Times, CBS and The Wall Street Journal, all conducted after the debate, showed a sharp drop in support for Biden.
The New York Times also quoted an anonymous ally of Biden saying the president was aware that his campaign was now in peril, with much riding on forthcoming public appearances. CNN published a similar report citing an unnamed Biden ally.
A White House spokesperson called The New York Times report “absolutely false”.
