President Biden is digging in his heels and vowing to get “back on the campaign trail next week” despite mounting calls from Democrats to stand down — even reportedly lashing out at his party’s leaders and accusing them of helping Donald Trump get elected in 2016 when they cast him aside to boost Hillary Clinton.
Former President Barack Obama, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer are just three of the powerful Dems who have apparently counseled Biden, 81, to throw in the towel.
“Can we all just remember for a minute that these same people who are trying to push Joe Biden out are the same people who literally gave us all Donald Trump?” a source close to Biden scoffed to NBC News.
“In 2015, Obama, Pelosi, Schumer pushed Biden aside in favor of Hillary; they were wrong then, and they are wrong now,” they added.
In the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election, polls indicated that former Secretary of State Clinton was leading by as much as nine points, the source noted to NBC.
“How did all this work out for everyone in 2016? Perhaps we should learn a few lessons from 2016; one of them is polls are BS — just ask Secretary Clinton. And two, maybe, just maybe, Joe Biden is more in touch with actual Americans than Obama-Pelosi-Schumer?” they ranted.
The Biden camp clapback comes on the heels of mounting speculation that the president’s own party might be turning on him due to concerns about his mental and physical fitness.
On Thursday, Axios’ Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen reported that “several top Democrats” believe that Biden is now under such intense pressure to step back that he will eventually give in.
On Friday, New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich became the third senator to call on Biden to “pass the torch” to another candidate.
“Joe Biden is one of the most accomplished presidents in modern history,” he said. “However, this moment in our nation’s history calls for a focus that is bigger than any one person.”
Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) have also urged Biden to withdraw, along with two dozen House Democrats.
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) revealed in a Boston Globe op-ed Friday that Biden did not seem to recognize him during a small gathering in France for the 80th anniversary of D-Day last month.
“Of course, that can happen as anyone ages, but as I watched the disastrous debate a few weeks ago, I have to admit that what I saw in Normandy was part of a deeper problem,” Moulton explained, as he joined the ranks of former allies now calling on Biden to step aside.
The avalanche of doubt over Biden’s ability to carry out the duties of the commander in chief picked up in the immediate aftermath of the first presidential debate, during which he repeatedly lost his train of thought and muttered incoherently.
Even the president’s family has reportedly discussed what an exit from the campaign trail might look like, two people familiar with the conversations told NBC News this week.
Speculation about private family talks, however, was shut down by White House spokesman Andrew Bates.
“That is not happening, period,” he said. “The individuals making those claims are not speaking for his family or his team — and they will be proven wrong. Keep the faith.”
Biden’s campaign staff have repeatedly insisted that he will not step off the ticket.
“We are built for the close election that we are in and we see the path forward,” campaign lead Jen O’Malley Dillon said Friday on “Morning Joe.”
“The president is the leader of our campaign and of the country, and he is clearly in our impression and what we’ve built and in our engagement with voters, he’s the best person to take on Donald Trump and prosecute that case and present his vision,” she added.
Biden stepped back from campaigning this week when he tested positive for COVID-19, though he is supposedly planning to be back on the trail next week.
He was spotted looking frail while disembarking Air Force One in Delaware Wednesday night — and even appeared to need physical help getting into the motorcade.
As of Friday, the president had completed his fourth round of PAXLOVID and his symptoms had “improved meaningfully,” White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor said.
Should Biden step aside, Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, is widely believed to be his most likely replacement on the ticket.
A source told The Post “she has been a loyal VP” and Biden likely would back Harris if he dropped out.
Another source close to Biden said, “Remember, he himself was passed over by Obama and it stung. I don’t think he’d do that to Harris.”
Harris was set to make a last-minute call to Democratic donors on Friday afternoon.
The exact purpose of the call was unclear, according to a report from the New York Times.
Biden campaign co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg, the co-founder of film studio DreamWorks, reportedly warned the president Wednesday that donor funds were drying up amid mounting concerns about the viability of his candidacy.
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