Tom Williams/AP
Amid a make-or-break week for President Biden’s embattled presidential campaign Speaker Emerita of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday appeared to carefully join the chorus of top Democrats urging the president to reconsider his defiance as questions continue to swell over his fitness for office.
“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” Pelosi said during an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”
“I want him to do whatever he decides to do,” she added.
Biden, of course, has made clear that he has made a decision: He isn’t dropping out. Pelosi’s statement seemed to heavily hint that the president should perhaps reconsider ahead of the fast-approaching Democratic convention next month. The remarks were at once respectful of the president and yet a far cry from the support he needs in this critical moment as more Democrats publicly doubt Biden’s ability to defeat Donald Trump in the presidential election.
In the polls, Biden hasn’t been as hurt as much as expected by his disastrous debate performance as expected. But his attempts to reassure voters, which included a lukewarm television interview, two-page letter, and on-air phone call, have failed to calm the panic among Democrats.
On Tuesday, Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado explicitly said that the chances of Donald Trump winning the election by a landslide were looking increasingly likely.
“Donald Trump is on track I think to win this election, and maybe win it by a landslide and take with it the Senate and the House,” Bennett told CNN on Tuesday. The senator stopped short of calling on Biden to leave the race but said that exiting was something he should consider.
In yet more evidence of the deep fracture among Democrats, some high-profile congressional Democrats, including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said that they were committed to supporting Biden.
