Ever since President Biden’s listless performance at a debate last month, he has faced the same question: What would it take for him to consider dropping out of the race?
While Mr. Biden has insisted that he is staying in, he has offered a number of scenarios in which he might withdraw — all while denying that any of them are even remotely likely.
Mr. Biden’s statements offer a bit of insight into his mind-set as he faces the biggest crisis of his presidency.
Here is a look at his comments:
He Would Listen to His Doctor
In an interview with Ed Gordon of BET News, the president said he might reconsider running for re-election if his doctors advised it.
“If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem,” Mr. Biden said, according to an excerpt released by the network on Monday.
After his halting debate performance, Mr. Biden has faced scrutiny about his age and health, including his consultations with a leading neurologist and Parkinson’s disease expert.
But both Mr. Biden and the White House physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, have repeatedly stated that the president has no serious health condition that limits him professionally or might prompt him to consider not running.
Dire Polling Could Change His Mind
At a news conference last week, Mr. Biden suggested that only the most dire polling could get him to drop out.
“If your team came back and showed you data that she would fare better against former President Donald Trump,” a reporter said, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris, “would you reconsider your decision to stay in the race?”
Mr. Biden replied: “No, unless they came back and said, ‘There’s no way you can win.’ Me. No one is saying that. No poll says that.”
A number of polls have been flashing warning signs for Mr. Biden for some time, showing him trailing Mr. Trump in key states. A nationwide poll of 1,253 adults conducted from July 11 to 15 by the A.P.-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 65 percent of Democrats would prefer Mr. Biden to step aside.
“How accurate does anybody think the polls are these days?” Mr. Biden said at the news conference. “I can give you a series of polls where you have likely voters, me versus Trump, where I win all the time.”
Divine Intervention Would Sway Him
In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on July 5, Mr. Biden joked that only divine intervention could change his mind about running.
“I mean, if the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race,” he said. “The Lord Almighty’s not coming down.”
He dismissed “hypotheticals” about how his attitude might evolve if pressure on him to drop out grew from influential Democrats such as Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, or Representative Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker.
“I’m not going to answer that question,” he said. “It’s not going to happen.”
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