Party defections risk threat of mutiny in White House

Democrat calls grow louder for US President Joe Biden to quit his race for re-election.

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer leaves after a private meeting between Senate Democrats and Joe Biden's senior advisers Mike Donlion, Steve Richetti and campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon. Picture: Getty Images

President Joe Biden held a high-stakes news conference on Thursday night in which he was forceful and defiant, vowing to pursue re-election and finish the job he started, but he also made some flubs as he tried to slow a stream of Democratic defections that risked turning into a mutiny.

While many in Mr Biden’s inner circle remain committed to him staying in the race, others in the White House and at the campaign are growing increasingly concerned there is little hope left that he can salvage his chances of a second term. Some who want him to stay are arguing that there isn’t a clear path for how to replace him if he decides not to run.

On Thursday, representatives Hillary Scholten (Michigan), Brad Schneider (Illinois), Ed Case (Hawaii) and Greg Stanton (Arizona) became the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th congessional Democrats to say Mr Biden should quit.

“For the sake of our democracy, he must pass the torch to a new candidate for the 2024 election,” Ms Scholten, who faces a tough re-election fight in November, said on social media.

More members joined them after the news conference concluded, with representatives Jim Himes (Connecticut), Scott Peters (California) and Eric Sorensen ­(Illinios) saying the President should leave the race, bringing the number of defectors to 17.

Top Biden campaign aides acknowledged in a Thursday memo that the debate last month in Atlanta with Donald Trump was a “setback” but said internal and external polling still showed a tight race in key battleground states. They said winning the blue-wall states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania was “the clearest pathway” to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

There was “no indication that anyone else would outperform the President v Trump”, they said.

On Thursday, campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and advisers Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti met with Senate Democrats behind closed doors, trying to convince Democrats to stay on board. They came at the invitation of Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, who is under pressure from donors, and reported to have signalled he is open to a candidate other than Mr Biden.

On Wednesday, Vermont’s Peter Welch became the first Democrat senator to publicly say Mr Biden should exit the race. Senator Welch said Vice-President Kamala Harris would be a capable replacement. Mr Biden conceded on Thursday that Ms Harris was ready to take over the Oval Office and he could step down if data shows he cannot beat Mr Trump. Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday distanced herself from Mr Biden, declining to say if she supported him remaining the nominee.

Long-serving Biden aides are devising ways to persuade him to step down from his campaign in a sign cracks are beginning to show in his inner circle. At least two close allies are believed to have become convinced he cannot overcome his disastrous debate performance last month and defeat Mr Trump in November, The New York Times reported.

Other senior Democrats have refused to endorse Mr Biden, with his precarious hopes further shaken by reports key donor George Clooney told Barack Obama he would call for the 81-year-old President to step aside – and that Mr Obama did not try to stop him.

After the June 27 televised showdown Mr Obama, 62, was publicly supportive, tweeting that he too had experienced “a bad debate” and emphasising Biden’s strengths. But sources told Politico that the former president did not try to prevent Clooney writing in The New York Times that “the dam has broken”, and urging Democrat leaders to demand that Mr Biden hand over the reins.

The Wall Street Journal