Joe Biden’s campaign came under further pressure on Thursday amid reports that Barack Obama is concerned about the presidential election, a gloomy mood among Democrats and polls showing Donald Trump leading.
Some Democrats have painted a bleak picture, with one senior party official telling the BBC that many in the party felt Mr Biden’s resignation was “inevitable”.
A poll conducted by CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, on Thursday showed him trailing Trump by five points – the biggest margin recorded this campaign.
But Mr Biden’s campaign has dismissed reports of high-level Democratic concerns as “baseless”, insisting he will still be the nominee.
The Washington Post reported that Mr Obama privately said Mr Biden’s chances had diminished significantly. A spokesman for the former president declined to comment.
The polls and reports about Mr Obama come after US media reported that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the two top Democrats in Congress, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, had advised Mr Biden to consider running for the party’s benefit. All denied the reports.
A senior Democratic source told BBC News the mood in Washington was gloomy: “We’re all waiting for the inevitable decision.”
Adam Smith, a Democratic congressman from Washington state, painted a similarly bleak picture. Asked by BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight whether the party was “coming to an end” of Mr Biden’s candidacy, he said: “That’s my feeling.”
“I mean, I don’t know. But without a doubt, I think that’s the direction this is going.”
Mr Biden has faced a difficult few weeks since his poor performance in the first presidential debate late last month, and is currently in quarantine in Delaware as he recovers from Covid.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, will deliver the keynote address at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Thursday night, his first since surviving an assassination attempt. Delegates and supporters here have been in high spirits all week.
Mr Biden has so far struck a defiant tone in his response to Democratic pressure to step down as the party’s nominee. He continues to enjoy public support from many politicians, including members of the powerful black caucus in Congress.
But there are signs that Democratic leaders are starting to apply more pressure.
Mr Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, and Mr Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House, reportedly told Mr Biden last week that their colleagues in Congress were “concerned” that his troubles would hurt their re-election chances.
Mr Schumer said the reports were “subjective speculation”, while Mr Jeffries said it was “a private conversation and will remain confidential”.
Meanwhile, CNN reported that Pelosi told Biden that polls showed he could not win. She later criticized the coverage as “hysteria,” but did not deny that she had a conversation with Biden.
On Thursday, the Post reported that Mr. Obama had told some allies that Mr. Biden, his former vice president, should seriously consider whether his candidacy was still viable.
Jamie Raskin, a congressman from Maryland, wrote to Mr Biden, comparing him to a baseball player at the end of his career – saying there was “no shame” in retiring “to the adulation of the crowd when your arms are tired”.
TJ Ducklo, a senior adviser to the Biden campaign, criticized reports of officials’ concerns as “baseless speculation from anonymous sources.”
“Joe Biden is his party’s nominee,” he wrote on X. “He is running for re-election.”
Deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said Mr Biden “is not wavering on anything. The president has made his decision. I don’t want to be rude, but I don’t know how many times we can answer that.”
Mr Biden has mild upper respiratory symptoms related to Covid but no fever, the president’s physician Kevin O’Connor said on Thursday,
The White House said he is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he arrives in the United States on Wednesday.
