Very few Democrats have heard from ailing President Biden after he withdrew from the race
A downtrodden President Biden appears to be quietly accepting his fate, as few of his closest allies on Capitol Hill have heard from him since he withdrew from the 2024 presidential race.
The president has not appeared in public for six days as he recovers from a COVID-19 diagnosis at his beach house in Rehoboth.
He will return to Washington DC on Tuesday afternoon. It will be the first time Americans will see their president, just days after his re-election.
On Sunday, he sent shockwaves through the country when he bowed to mounting pressure to step down from the top of the Democratic ticket. The decision was announced in a written statement sent to X.
But beyond that, few people tell DailyMail.com they’ve heard from the president, who prides himself on his close ties to Congress.
This fuels wild speculation online that all is not well behind the scenes with the ailing Biden and that he could be seriously ill or even dead.
A downtrodden President Biden appears to be privately accepting his fate, as few of his closest allies on Capitol Hill have heard from him since he withdrew from the 2024 presidential race.
The House Democratic leadership had largely not heard from him. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., a close friend of Biden, has not spoken to the president since his decision, he told DailyMail.com.
Neither Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., vice chairman of the Democratic caucus, nor Reps. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., top Democrat on State Department Greg Meeks, D-N.Y., or Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.
“I’m a big supporter of Biden. I want him to stay. I was angry when he left, but when he supported Kamala, I joined,” Waters told reporters.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she does not discuss her private conversations with the president.
Conservative conspiracies were rampant, with some suspecting the president was gravely ill or dead. But Biden called a meeting at campaign headquarters with the new presumptive Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. He is expected to address the crowd on Wednesday.
The president is still expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House this week, but the exact date has not yet been announced.
And he canceled a planned fundraising trip to California and Colorado that the Harris campaign had said was supposed to take place at the end of the week. They are being rescheduled.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., a Biden campaign surrogate, did speak with the president after he dropped out. He said Biden “sounded very friendly and he was, you know, he sounded like he was in a good mood.”
Many big names among Democrats have not heard from President Biden since his momentous decision
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-NY, has not spoken to the president
Rep. Steven Horsford, co-chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said he had been with Biden early last week.
During the campaign call on Monday, the The 81-year-old spoke in a hoarse voice to campaign staff because of his COVID-19, telling Harris, “I’ll be watching you, son.”
He promised to help with the campaign and said he would continue to follow the campaign, speaking on a loudspeaker to his staff who now work for Harris.
“I know yesterday’s news was surprising and difficult for you to hear, but it was the right thing to do,” the president said.
“I know it’s hard because you’ve put your heart and soul into helping us win this award, helping me get this nomination, helping me win the nomination and then winning the presidency,” he continued.