Multiple top Democrats believe Joe Biden could bow out of the presidential race as early as this weekend, Axios reported Wednesday, citing “several” anonymous lawmakers.
Democrats told the website that Biden, 81, risks wiping out his legacy if he stays the course and is defeated by Donald Trump in a landslide—a once-distant fear that recent polls suggest may soon be reality.
Biden has remained defiant publicly, insisting he’s staying the race despite appearing more unsteady than ever in the last three weeks, punctuated by a disaster of a debate performance on June 27 and a COVID-19 diagnosis that has sidelined him from events this week.
The president’s campaign denied the rumors in Axios’ report, stating firmly that Biden is “running for reelection” and that “baseless conjecture from anonymous sources isn’t a scoop.”
An assassination attempt on Trump briefly cooled down calls for the president to step aside this weekend, but damning polls showing Biden trailing Trump in battleground states have resurfaced the issue.
Now former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), are reportedly pushing him to exit the race. If he doesn’t, they’ve signaled that a ticket with Biden at the top could have a catastrophic effect on down-ticket Democratic candidates for Congress, ending the party’s House majority.
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