As the whispers for Biden to step away from the presidential race turn into shrieks, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a call Sunday with ranking members—and the news continued to get worse for the president as several members told Jeffries it was time for Biden to exit the contest.
Jeffries himself remained coy and did not indicate whether he supports such a move at this time, according to a report. Instead of taking a principled stand, he’s been “listening”:
So far, the leader has been in a purposeful listening mode. As one person told CNN last week, Jeffries has “assiduously” avoided sharing his own judgment on the matter for the time being as he continues to survey his own caucus.
Other lawmakers were not so shy:
More than a handful of House Democratic ranking members told House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a Sunday call that President Joe Biden needs to step aside from the 2024 campaign, according to sources familiar with the call.
Jeffries held the call to take the temperature of ranking members before lawmakers return to Washington this week. The call was filled with deep concern about potential damage to the Democratic ticket and how it imperils the party’s chances to win back the House majority.
The “temperature” was not good, with more in support of Biden going back to Delaware than thinking he should continue what has become a desperate fight for four more years in the Oval Office.
The number of lawmakers who explicitly said Biden should not be the Democratic nominee was greater than the number who spoke up for him to stay, according to the source. Among those who opposed Biden as the nominee were Reps. Mark Takano, Adam Smith, Jim Himes, Joe Morelle and Susan Wild, according to two sources. Democratic Reps. Maxine Waters and Bobby Scott spoke in support of Biden, according to one of the sources.
Are they feeling this way because they care about the future and worry about our security, given that the commander-in-chief is in obvious mental decline? Nope. Their concern is power—meaning the House majority:
One of the concerns expressed during the nearly two-hour call was that Democrats will lose their House majority if Biden is the candidate, one of the source said, adding that it was generally acknowledged the nominee should be Vice President Kamala Harris.
“It was pretty brutal,” a senior Democratic aide told CNN, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation among House leaders.
The story is fast-moving:
Hawaii Governor: Biden to Make Decision About Future 'In Next Couple of Days'
Announcements From Shannon Bream and Jim Clyburn Spell More Trouble for Biden
More information about this call is likely to come out in the near future; this site will keep you updated as events warrant.