Washington
CNN
—
President Joe Biden met with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Thursday after a high-profile solo presidential news conference to launch a belated outreach campaign to a key group of lawmakers, the kind of effort Democrats have long sought.
During the meeting, Jeffries “expressed directly the extensive insights, heartfelt views and conclusions about the path forward that the caucus shared during our recent meeting,” the New York Democrat said in a letter to his colleagues on Friday.
But Jeffries did not offer Biden one important suggestion: his endorsement.
A person familiar with the meeting said Jeffries “candidly” shared the caucus’ views, as he stated in the letter, but did not intentionally voice an endorsement or publicly say the decision should be made by Biden.
It is unclear whether Biden directly asked Jeffries for his tacit endorsement, but a person familiar with the matter said Jeffries did not offer his support either in the meeting or in the open letter published Friday morning.
Following the meeting, the president began a series of conference calls with key groups of Democratic lawmakers, the kind of effort many in Congress urged him to make a few weeks ago after the disastrous performance in the debate. CNN reported Friday that Biden held conference calls with the political arms of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Friday, and held virtual meetings with both the New Democrat Coalition and the Progressive Caucus on Saturday, according to sources familiar with the meetings.
Those meetings come amid continued defections within Biden’s Democratic coalition in Congress.
The press conference lasted just under an hour, during which Biden answered 19 questions from reporters on topics ranging from his intellectual ability to foreign policy. It was a much stronger performance than his appearance at CNN’s presidential debate, but it didn’t stave off a wave of House Democrats railing against Biden’s bid for a second term.
More than a dozen Democratic members of the House and at least one Democratic senator have publicly called on Biden to withdraw from his reelection campaign. The list includes some of the nation’s most battleground House members but also senior Democrats on influential committees and members of seats the Democrats are sure to win.
One Democrat, Rep. Mike Levin of California, told Biden directly on a conference call with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that he should resign, according to a person familiar with the call, which Biden joined an hour late. This is the first time CNN has reported that a member of Congress has directly told Biden to drop out of the race.
Biden responded that it was important for him to get out there and let people know he was still well and healthy, according to a source briefed on the call.
Dozens of other Democrats have stopped short of calling on Biden to end his campaign but have expressed concerns about his chances of winning, said they think he would lose outright or remained publicly undecided.Still, more than 70 members of the House and Senate have publicly reaffirmed their support for Biden as the party’s presidential nominee following his dismal performance in the debate late last month.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in Congress, and Jeffries have issued a series of public statements this week in support of Biden’s candidacy. CNN reported Thursday night that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, one of the party’s most influential members, has privately expressed concerns.
Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler acknowledged “unrest” from Capitol Hill to reporters on Friday but insisted Biden would continue to reach out to lawmakers to shore up support.
“Is there ongoing uncertainty? Yes, we understand that and the president understands that,” he said. “That’s why he’s going to continue to engage with people in Congress, and we’ve been engaging with governors and mayors across the country, the vast majority of whom are staunch supporters of Joe Biden and understand the importance of this election.”
Biden delivered sharp remarks on Thursday night on everything from Israel to Russia to China to US gun control, but he also made two notable gaffes. At a NATO event before the press conference, Biden introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin,” and then repeated a similar mistake during the press conference by calling Vice President Kamala Harris by Donald Trump’s first name.
The night became a kind of Rorschach test of how Democrats feel about Biden. Solid Biden supporters seized on his lengthy answers to tough foreign policy questions as proof that he still has what it takes to lead the country effectively, while Biden doubters seized on his verbal gaffes to bolster their case for someone to top the list of candidates to replace him.
Biden, meanwhile, appeared remorseful during his press conference and was less defiant than before. After telling ABC’s George Stephanopoulos last week that only “God Almighty” could convince him to drop out of the race, Biden on Thursday night opened the door to other scenarios in which he would drop out. When asked if he might reconsider his position if presented with data showing Harris leading against Trump, he sounded somewhat open to the possibility.
“Not unless they come back and say there’s no way we can win,” Biden said.
A Biden supporter who met with the president multiple times after the June 27 debate told CNN that concerns about his “Almighty God” remarks had been conveyed to the president since the ABC News interview.
“Are you really so inflexible that you’re not going to budge when we bring you compelling polling results?” one ally described the feedback given to Biden, saying they impressed upon the president that it was important for him to continue to project an openness.
The source acknowledged that Biden appears to be changing his approach after hearing the criticism, trying to suppress the instinct: “They’re not going to push me around.”
“He had heard that people misunderstood his level of fierce determination but he is not an arrogant person,” the source said, adding: “He was genuinely surprised by the criticism.”
Biden’s campaign, meanwhile, has been candid in acknowledging the challenges it has faced since his debate performance two weeks ago.
Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon acknowledged to staff on a conference call on Thursday that the period following Biden’s disastrous debate performance had been “tough,” “very bad” and “a terrible few weeks,” according to sources who were on the call. Portions of O’Malley Dillon’s remarks were first reported by Axios.
O’Malley Dillon choked up as she admitted she hadn’t been getting much sleep lately, and sources said she tried to motivate her staff on the call after first candidly acknowledging that things have been very tough lately.
As this source explained, her case “is not just one that we feel we can win. We have a plan to get there.”
She presented external and internal polling figures and argued that the data still supports Biden’s ability to beat Trump.
O’Malley Dillon argued to his team that the Biden reelection campaign was experiencing a moment that it was “built for,” and that thanks to his team, the president would ultimately win.
This story has been updated with additional reports.
