Presidential election: Is Biden dropping out of the US election campaign? Democrats nervous

In the US election campaign for another term in office, the air is getting thinner for President Joe Biden: After his disastrous performance in the TV debate against challenger Donald Trump, the Democrat’s poll ratings are deteriorating. In addition, there are increasing voices within his own party calling for the 81-year-old to withdraw from the presidential race. However, some of the more than 20 Democratic governors with whom Biden made contact on Wednesday also signaled their support.

Biden still wants to secure a second term in the US election in November and prevent Trump from returning to the White House. But it seems questionable whether and for how long he can withstand the pressure.

Poll numbers in the basement

In recent weeks, Trump and Biden have been neck and neck in the polls. The Republican has always been one to two percentage points ahead – despite his scandals and conviction in a New York criminal trial. Since the televised debate, however, Trump has been able to significantly increase his lead in voter approval, as recent polls show. Surveys by the New York Times, CNN and Wall Street Journal now put him six to eight percentage points ahead of Biden. This is increasing the Democrats’ nervousness – and apparently also their willingness to consider another candidate.

In the USA, such surveys play a major role – although they are often relatively inaccurate due to various factors. If the poor results for a politician increase, this can send an important signal to his supporters, including the donors who are indispensable in the US election campaign.

Pressure on Biden grows

Top politicians from Biden’s party had refrained from public criticism in recent days. On Tuesday, the first Democratic representative in the US House of Representatives, Lloyd Doggett of Texas, publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race and make room for another candidate. A second Democratic representative, Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, joined the calls.

But it is mainly behind the scenes that things are simmering: Biden himself picked up the phone for crisis talks, the White House announced. According to the report, he spoke on the phone with high-ranking Democrats such as the majority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, the minority leader in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, and other parliamentarians.

On Wednesday evening, Biden met with more than 20 Democratic governors at a meeting in the White House and via the Internet and telephone – presumably with the aim of securing their support. While some demonstratively supported him afterwards, others expressed their doubts. The governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, described the conversation afterwards as “sincere”. He said they supported Biden, but were concerned about the Democrats’ position in the presidential race.

Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, said, according to the New York Times, “The governors are behind him, and we’re working together to make that very, very clear.” But he also added, “A path to victory in November is priority No. 1, and that’s the president’s priority No. 1.”

Gretchen Whitmer, who governs the state of Michigan and is considered a possible replacement candidate in the event of Biden’s withdrawal, expressed her unconditional support in a post on the X platform: “Joe Biden is our candidate. He wants to win and I support him.” Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, also demonstratively supported Biden in a post on X.

According to the New York Times, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul told reporters waiting after the meeting: “President Joe Biden is in it to win, and we have all pledged our support to him.” However, this statement was met with irritation by some other governors, because there was no call to support Biden, the newspaper learned from participants. Rather, more than half a dozen governors expressed concern about Biden’s halting, whispered performance in the debate against Trump.

In the White House, Biden’s chief of staff Jeff Zients tried to limit the damage. In a telephone conference with more than 500 government employees, according to consistent media reports, Zients called for the “noise” surrounding Biden to be blocked out and for people to concentrate on government work. The past few days had been challenging. The focus of all employees on government work will be even more important in the hot election campaign phase, he said.

White House: Biden stays in the race

The government headquarters continues to vehemently try to dispel any doubts about the president’s suitability for his office. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, who normally only speaks from her podium on government matters and not explicitly on the election campaign, stressed several times that Biden will remain in the race.

The White House had previously rejected media reports suggesting that Biden was considering withdrawing. The New York Times report said that the president had spoken to an “important ally” about it. According to the ally, Biden said in the conversation that he knew that he might not be able to save his candidacy if he could not convince people of his suitability as a presidential candidate in the coming days. “This claim is absolutely false,” a spokesman for the government headquarters said in response.

Biden plans to make several appearances in the coming days: a television interview is planned for Friday, followed by campaign appearances in the states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in the coming days, and a press conference at the NATO summit in the US capital Washington next week.

Vice President Harris comes into focus

Meanwhile, the focus is increasingly on Biden’s deputy, Kamala Harris. She could replace Biden in the presidential race. While there was a lot of speculation about a possible change, especially on social media, a team of supporters of former President Donald Trump launched a verbal frontal attack on the Democrat. “Democrats are beginning to rally behind Kamala Harris because it can no longer be denied that Joe Biden is unfit for office,” the campaign said in a statement.