Despite calls for the president to resign following last month’s disastrous debate, Democrats on Capitol Hill are uniting in their support of the idea of keeping Biden on the nomination in 2024.
In a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic coalition on Tuesday, a majority of lawmakers expressed support for the president, some praising his leadership abilities and others simply recognizing that primary voters have already determined that he is the unavoidable candidate.
Across the Capitol, Senate Democrats expressed concern at a private lunch that Biden would have an advantage over former President Trump, but no lawmaker called for him to be replaced as the nominee.
And at least one Democratic lawmaker who previously opposed Biden’s nomination, Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, reversed course on Tuesday.
The combination suggests that, nearly two weeks after Biden’s shaky debate performance, the polls are tipping in the president’s favor. He has strongly denied suggestions that he dropped out of the race because of his age, health or doubts about his ability to beat Trump in November.
“This is definitely a better day than he’s had before,” said Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.). “It’s a move in the right direction.”
“I think we’ve reached a turning point,” agreed Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.). “It’s been about 10 or 11 days since the debate, and it’s time to move on. And I think a lot of members are there today, even more so than they were last week.”
Biden also has gained support from key veterans of Congress and large constituencies. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said he still supports the president “definitely.” Numerous members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus have said they will support Biden through November. And Rep. James Clyburn, D-Calif., who has been open about running for Vice President Harris, told reporters that Biden has tremendous support from his congressional coalition.
“We stand with Biden,” Clyburn said after the House meeting.
But Biden may not be safe, given his performance in last month’s debate that raised immediate alarm that the president, despite his strong legislative record, is unable to tout it on the campaign trail.
Hours after the Democrats’ morning meeting concluded, Rep. Mickey Sherrill (D-N.J.) released a statement saying he had absolutely no confidence in Biden’s ability to beat Trump in the election.
“The stakes are too high, the threat too real, to remain silent,” she said in a statement.
She became the seventh House Democrat to publicly oppose putting Biden at the top of the ticket, joining Reps. Mike Quigley of Illinois, Lloyd Doggett of Texas and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, all speaking out during caucus meetings.
Meanwhile, in the Senate, no senator is calling for Biden to step down. But Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington), a member of the Democratic leadership, said Monday that “if (Biden) is going to have to have a much stronger, more energetic candidate on the campaign trail in the very near future to convince voters that he can do the job.”
And one person familiar with the Senate debate said a “vast majority” of senators who spoke at the meeting expressed serious concerns about Biden’s ability to beat Trump after his disastrous debate performance.
But such voices are still a minority in the Democratic Party overall. And the clearest evidence that the sand is shifting in Biden’s favor (at least for now) comes from Nadler, who expressed concern about putting Biden at the top of the ticket in a call with top Democrats on Sunday, but then reversed course Tuesday to support the president.
“Whether I have concerns or not, it doesn’t matter,” Nadler told reporters before the meeting. “He’s going to be our candidate, and we should all support him.”
The shift comes days after Biden and his team moved aggressively to stifle internal dissent and prevent the flow of Democratic critics from growing into an unstoppable flood.
On Monday, Biden sent a spirited letter to congressional Democrats pledging to stay in the race and urging them to “end” calls for his resignation. He also called MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to challenge Democratic critics to try to remove him from the race. And hours later, he called members of the Congressional Black Caucus, perhaps his strongest base of support, and promised to prioritize some of their favorite issues during his second term.
Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.), a Biden supporter, said she was encouraged by the “focus, energy and vitality” shown in the stepped-up public relations effort.
“The president is coming out fighting. He’s coming out fighting with some energy,” he said. “That’s what we have to do. The mistake we made in 2016 was: running a low-key campaign and running to not lose. And that’s how we lost.”
Biden also won the support of prominent progressive lawmakers.
“I spoke with the president over the weekend. I spoke with him extensively. He made it clear then, and he’s made it clear since, that he’s in this race,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told reporters Monday night.
“The matter is settled.”
Kristi Setzer, a Democratic strategist and veteran campaigner, said Biden’s tactical efforts to expand congressional support — which have been largely successful so far — haven’t given critics much choice.
“This week, President Biden has shown that he is not only a brilliant dealmaker, but he knows Congress better than anyone,” Setzer said. “By simultaneously securing support from the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Squad, his detractors have little room to turn.”
Democratic strategist Basil Smikle, a former executive director of the New York State Democratic Party, put it more bluntly: “The raw politics and Biden-style resistance to critics has forced everyone to get in line.”
“He made a lot of friends throughout his career and was able to turn to them for support,” he added.
But there are still loopholes in that support.
Aside from the seven House Democrats who have already publicly called for Biden to resign, many others have privately voiced their views but are not making any official announcements, waiting for the results of the post-debate polls.
Fueling those concerns, the nonpartisan Cook Political Report on Tuesday tipped the presidential race in five states and one district toward the Republicans.
In another sign of the potential backlash against Biden, Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), co-chair of the House Democratic messaging committee, issued a statement shortly after the morning meeting raising concerns about the president seeking a second term.
“Since the debate, I have met with Biden voters in Massachusetts who have genuine concerns about the president’s ability to beat Donald Trump. I share those concerns,” she wrote. “President Biden has made it clear that he is the best candidate to win this election, but what has happened over the past 12 days does not suggest that voters see things the same way.”
Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), who is running for the Senate seat in Garden State, told the New Jersey Globe that he has “concerns” about Biden’s health and that there is still plenty of time for Democrats to “shift gears” if necessary.
Even Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, seemed to leave the door open to replacing Biden. Asked whether Biden had done enough to assuage Democrats’ concerns, the No. 3 House Democrat said the president still had work to do to show voters that the debate was just a bad night and that he still had the energy and sharpness to lead the country for the next four years.
“My answer is, you know, we’ll see,” Aguilar said.
“Let’s have a press conference. Let’s stop campaigning. Let’s have all this, because it’s going to take all this,” he added. “The president knows he didn’t have a good debate performance. He knows he has to get out to his constituents, to his community, to this difficult state. He knows that, and that’s what we’re going to see over the next few days and weeks.”
Caroline Barkil, Aris Foley and Alexander Bolton contributed to this report.
