Showdown among the Democrats Is the revolt against Biden imminent?
Every hour, more Democrats are daring to go public with demands to withdraw from the race against Joe Biden. He continues to defy the rebellion. How much longer?
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The collective pressure from US Democrats on President Joe Biden is growing ever stronger.
- Democrats from all ranks are now publicly calling on Biden to drop out of the presidential race.
- The US President has publicly rejected all calls to withdraw so far.
The collective pressure from US Democrats on President Joe Biden is growing ever stronger. On Friday alone, around a dozen more Democrats ventured out of the US Congress to publicly call on their party colleague to drop out of the presidential race. The tone is also becoming harsher. One congressman revealed how Biden no longer recognized him during a recent meeting.
The incumbent, who is currently isolating himself due to a coronavirus infection and is not appearing in public, has so far appeared unimpressed by the internal party rebellion and has announced his return to the campaign stage next week. According to US media, however, the 81-year-old is no longer categorically ruling out a withdrawal in view of the enormous resistance within his own ranks.
The number of critics continues to grow
The background to the revolt is doubts about the President's mental fitness - and his ability to hold office for another four years. A new wave of Democratic members of Congress expressed concern on Friday that Biden could lose the presidential election to his Republican opponent Donald Trump and that the party may no longer have a say in either chamber of parliament in the future. In the meantime, around three dozen MPs from both chambers have openly called on Biden to drop out of the race for a second term.
Behind the scenes, according to media reports, the very top echelons of the party are also trying to persuade Biden to withdraw, including the two top Democrats in Congress, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, as well as the former leader of the House of Representatives and still influential Democrat, Nancy Pelosi. Biden's former boss, former President Barack Obama, is also said to have expressed concerns. Among those Democrats who have come forward with public demands for withdrawal are several close allies of Pelosi.
The concerted action from within his own party is remarkable. The fact that non-public statements from the most influential Democrats in the country have been leaking out in parallel over the past few days is probably no coincidence either.
"For the first time, he didn't seem to recognize me"
Democratic MP Seth Moulton from the state of Massachusetts described an encounter with Biden on the sidelines of the celebrations for the 80th anniversary of D-Day in his call for his withdrawal. "For the first time, he didn't seem to recognize me," Moulton wrote. Although this can happen with age, he believes that his experience in Normandy was "part of a deeper problem".
Biden has retreated to his private home in Rehoboth Delaware following an infection with the coronavirus. He is currently not attending any appointments. He has so far firmly rejected all public calls for him to withdraw. His campaign team also insists that he has no plans to quit.
Return to the campaign stage?
The president's doctor announced that Biden's Covid symptoms had already improved significantly. Biden announced that he wanted to campaign again in the next few days. "I look forward to returning to the campaign trail next week," the US President said in a written statement. He wants to continue to warn people in the country about the danger posed by Trump's policies and at the same time promote his own vision for the country. "The stakes are high," he warned and once again called on his party to unite: "Together we will win."
However, the Democrats are not doing particularly well in terms of unity at the moment. In recent weeks, Biden's deputy Kamala Harris has increasingly come into focus as a possible replacement for Biden. She is still on the campaign trail during Biden's absence and made a high-profile stop at an ice cream parlor in the capital Washington on Friday. These are usually reserved for the self-confessed ice cream lover Biden.
Kamala Harris warms up
However, the Democrats are not doing particularly well in terms of unity at the moment. In recent weeks, Biden's deputy Kamala Harris has increasingly come into focus as a possible replacement for Biden for pragmatic reasons, even though she has not cut the best figure in her previous role and many Democrats do not consider her to be the ideal candidate. But the desperation is great.
Harris has continued to campaign in Biden's absence and made a high-profile stop at an ice cream parlor in the capital, Washington, on Friday. These are usually reserved for the self-confessed ice cream lover Biden.
"In a way, she's auditioning for the presidency," Harris' former communications director Ashley Etienne told CNN. She needs to show people she's ready, she said. "She needs to do that in a more profound way. The campaign needs to give her the opportunity to do that."
