Biden's political isolation deepens as pressure to step aside builds
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Pummeled by a positive COVID test and a rapidly imploding re-election campaign, President Biden walked gingerly up the steps of Air Force One and retreated into self-isolation Wednesday night.
Why it matters: Biden will spend the next few days surveying the political wreckage from his home in Delaware, with his fate as the Democratic nominee more uncertain than at any point in the last three weeks.
- After a brief pause to acknowledge the shocking violence of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump last Saturday, Democratic pressure on Biden to exit the race has reached a fever pitch.
- Adding insult to injury, Trump — feted as a martyr in Milwaukee — will deliver his nomination speech at a raucous and remarkably united Republican National Convention.
The big picture: There are only a few Democrats with the influence to persuade Biden to quit — starting with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
- In at least one conversation since the debate, Pelosi has conveyed to Biden and his campaign the political peril that Democrats face if he remains atop the ticket, Axios' Hans Nichols reported.
- Schumer, meanwhile, had a "blunt one-on-one conversation" with Biden on Saturday in which he "forcefully made the case that it would be best if Biden bowed out of the race," ABC News' Jon Karl reported Wednesday.
Between the lines: "It's not just that Schumer told Biden he needed to step aside," observed Ezra Klein, the liberal New York Times columnist who was dogpiled for calling on Democrats to replace Biden in February.
- "It's that Biden didn't step aside, and so now the meeting is being leaked to build pressure and signal to others that they can act."
- A Schumer spokesperson fanned the flames with a telling non-denial: "Unless ABC's source is Senator Chuck Schumer or President Biden, the reporting is idle speculation. Leader Schumer conveyed the views of his caucus directly to President Biden on Saturday."
The intrigue: Those interventions came last week, but did not leak out until now.
- Late Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Biden "has become more receptive" to hearing arguments about why he should drop out — even asking questions about how Vice President Kamala Harris could win.
Zoom in: The first signs of Wednesday's runaway rebellion came via a statement from Rep. Adam Schiff, a top Pelosi ally poised to be the next senator from California, calling for Biden to drop out.
- Then came news that the Democratic National Committee was delaying its plan to nominate Biden in a virtual roll call weeks before the Aug. 19 convention, following backlash from rank-and-file Democrats who want more time to address concerns about the president's age.
- Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) quietly collaborated to push back against holding the vote in July, according to sources familiar with the matter.
- Jeffries has also conveyed his own private warning to Biden, as many of his Democratic members have expressed fears of the down-ballot impacts of a Trump landslide.
What they're saying: "The president told both leaders he is the nominee of the party, he plans to win, and looks forward to working with both of them to pass his 100 days agenda to help working families," White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement.
What to watch: Amid weeks of bad polling for Biden, AP-NORC dropped this bomb: 65% of Democrats believe the president should withdraw from the race and let the party pick a new nominee.
- Semafor reported that Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-chair of the Biden campaign, privately told the president in Las Vegas on Wednesday that donor cash is drying up.
- The financial path forward will be one of the key considerations Biden ponders as he remains isolated — both politically and physically — in the coming days.
