House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama held emergency talks on what to do with Joe Biden at the head of the Democratic ticket, and failed to reach a consensus.
Neither is sure what to do, but they agree that it has become much harder for Democrats to win in November since Biden’s disastrous debate performance, according to CNN.
Democrats are “begging” Obama or Pelosi to help calm the infighting. Biden has these two powerful politicians in his power, more so than Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer or House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Three more House Democrats have called on Biden to drop out of the race since his post-NATO news conference Thursday night, including the Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, Jim Himes of Connecticut. That brings the total number of House Democrats to 17.
Two senators have also called on Biden to step down, and others have expressed concern about the impact this will have on the election.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama held emergency talks on what to do with Joe Biden at the head of the Democratic ticket, and failed to reach a consensus
Biden at one point called Vice President Kamala Harris “Vice President Trump” and just before the press conference called Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky “President Putin.”
While some Democrats publicly praised Biden’s debate performance – and the Biden team – took a victory lap – others worry that they have reached a point where Biden’s performance was decent enough to convince them he doesn’t need to drop out, but not good enough to assuage concerns about his cognitive decline.
Pelosi, for her part, has insisted that the door is open for Biden to withdraw from the race, though Biden insists he will not do such a thing. Obama has been silent in recent days.
The former president urged Democrats not to publicly criticize the president until after the NATO press conference.
Reports showed that Obama knew about George Clooney’s New York Times op-ed calling for Biden to step down and had spoken to the actor about it.
“What’s going on behind the scenes is the Biden campaign and many Democratic officials believe Barack Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this,” MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough surmised.
Asked on MSNBC’s Morning Joe whether Biden has her support, the former House speaker said Wednesday: “It’s up to the president to decide whether he’s going to run or not. We all encourage him to make that decision because time is running out.”
Reminded that Biden has already made his decision, Pelosi said, “I want him to do whatever he decides to do.”
“Whatever he decides, we will do.”
Behind closed doors, he has told people that Biden cannot win and should step aside. according to Politico.