Biden is now ‘receptive’ to pleas to step down despite his continued public defiance

President Joe Biden has become “more receptive” to the idea of ​​stepping aside and letting a younger Democrat take on Donald Trump in November, according to new reports.

Biden, 81, has been under pressure to abandon his bid for a second term since his disastrous debate performance against the Republican nominee in June, in which the president stumbled through answers and appeared to lose focus at times.

These last reports, from both CNN And The New York Times, came to light when Biden looked frail as he stepped off Air Force One following his Covid-19 diagnosis in Las Vegas.

CNN It was previously reported that Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi told Biden she does not believe he can be re-elected.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have expressed concerns about Biden’s chances against Trump. So far, Rep. Adam Schiff of California is the most prominent Democrat calling on Biden to remove himself from the ticket.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi is believed to have raised her concerns about the president’s chances directly with him

A “senior Democratic” source told CNN that “discussions on Capitol Hill continue” over Biden’s fate.

“He’s receptive. Not as defiant as he is in public. He’s gone from saying, ‘Kamala can’t win,’ to ‘Do you think Kamala can win?’ It’s still unclear where he’ll end up, but he seems to be listening,” the source said.

The Times followed CNN’s scoop by reporting that Biden asked his inner circle, among other things, “how Vice President Kamala Harris could win.”

The Times also quotes an anonymous source as saying that Biden is “willing to listen” to alternatives to his candidacy.

CNN reported that when Pelosi spoke to Biden over the phone about polls, the president demurred. The longtime Democrat then asked to speak to Mike Donlion, one of Biden’s most trusted advisers.

Biden’s official campaign position remains that Biden will be the nominee.

“If the facts matter — and they should — here’s one: President Biden is the Democratic nominee and he’s going to win this November,” spokesman Kevin Munoz told the network.

The party appears likely to move forward with a virtual vote to nominate Biden in August.

The decision to hold the nominating process, which kicks off just weeks before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 19, follows calls from nearly 20 Democratic members of Congress for Biden to withdraw.

Senator Chuck Schumer reportedly told Biden it would be ‘better for the party’ if he resigned

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has expressed concerns about Biden’s chances in November

Rep. Adam Schiff is the most prominent Democrat so far calling on Biden to step aside

ABC News reported new details about Biden’s private meeting last weekend with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer at his beachfront home in Delaware.

Schumer reportedly told the president that it would be “better for the Democratic Party and better for the country if he were to resign.”

A spokesman for Schumer called the report “empty speculation. Leader Schumer conveyed his caucus’s views directly to President Biden on Saturday.”

White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Biden told Schumer and House Speaker Jeffries that “he is the party’s nominee, he intends to win, and he looks forward to working with both of them to pass his 100-day agenda to support working families.”

Nearly two-thirds of Democrats nationwide say Biden should step aside and let his party nominate another candidate, according to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. This undermines Biden’s post-debate claim that “average Democrats” still support him even as some “big names” turn on him.

Biden tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday during a trip to Las Vegas and is experiencing “mild symptoms” including “general malaise” as a result of the infection, the White House said.

“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” Schiff said in a statement. “And in doing so, secure his leadership legacy by enabling us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.”