Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had a “blunt one-on-one conversation” with President Joe Biden on Saturday, as reported by ABC News’s chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl. The Washington Post and Axios quickly published similar reports.
The conversation topic? Biden’s impact on other Democrats running in November.
I am told Chuck Schumer had a blunt one-on-one conversation with Biden Saturday afternoon in Rehoboth. Schumer forcefully made the case that it would be best if Biden bowed out of the race.
Schumer’s office wouldn’t comment on the specifics of the conversation, telling me only,…
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) July 17, 2024
Schumer’s office offered this response to the reporting: “Unless ABC’s source is Senator Chuck Schumer or President Joe Biden the reporting is idle speculation,” Schumer’s office said in a statement. “Leader Schumer conveyed the views of his caucus directly to President Biden on Saturday.”
His office did not immediately respond to a follow-up question from Business Insider about whether the message from his caucus was to drop out of the race.
The Post and ABC also reported that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had a similar conversation with Biden on Thursday.
According to the Post, the two Democratic leaders voiced their members’ concerns that his candidacy could negatively impact down-ballot races and cost them the House and Senate.
Only one senator, Sen. Peter Welch, has publicly called for Biden to drop out of the race. However, Sen. Michael Bennet has said publicly that he does not believe that Biden can win.
On Wednesday, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, who is running for the Senate, became the highest-profile Democrat to call for the president to drop out of the race.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker Emerita, has been working behind the scenes, according to reports, to get Biden to drop out.
There has been increasing pressure for Biden, 81, to bow out and have Democrats select a nominee at the convention in August following his disastrous debate performance last month and then a series of public appearances and interviews that have not been able to reassure his base.
Publicly, Biden has been adamant that he is not dropping out of the race. However, CNN reported Wednesday that a senior Democratic advisor said Biden is being “receptive” in conversations with members of Congress about dropping out and that the president is “not as defiant as he is publicly.”
“He’s gone from saying, ‘Kamala can’t win,’ to ‘Do you think Kamala can win?'” the advisor said, according to CNN. “It’s still unclear where he’s going to land but seems to be listening.”
The White House and the Biden campaign did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider about CNN’s reporting.
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