Joe Biden continues to fight for his candidacy, and outwardly the Democrat is receiving demonstratively backed by his party. But behind the scenes, things are simmering.
The air is getting thinner for Joe Biden in the fight for a second term. Although there has been no open revolt in the Democratic Party against the US president’s re-election, there are reports of feverish discussions behind closed doors about how to persuade the 81-year-old to drop out of the race for the White House.
Biden should be able to step down with dignity
“I’ll be honest: Everyone goes on air and says all these great things, but behind the scenes there is total panic,” political analyst Van Jones told CNN. “People are passing around legal memos, PDFs are flying back and forth on WhatsApp, trying to figure out what the options are. How do you replace Biden? How do you get him to do it in a way that makes him feel respected the way he should be respected?”
The conversations in front of the cameras and the conversations behind the cameras are completely different, reported the former advisor to US President Barack Obama. In fact, there is already talk about who the current Vice President Kamala Harris should take with her as her running mate in the fight against Donald Trump if she succeeds Biden.
Jones praised Biden as a “great candidate,” but said Democrats must make responsible decisions about the best way forward. “We have someone who loves this country. We have someone who has given everything – I mean everything, down to the last drop – for this country,” said the 55-year-old. He therefore understands that people want to defend and protect Biden and give the president the space and dignity to make his own decision. “But he may not be able to cross the finish line. And a responsible party must take that into account.”
That is exactly what is happening now, Jones explained. There is a big discussion going on about How Biden could be replaced, not if.
“The dam breaks”
Similar accounts to Jones’s can be heard from other sources: Several Democratic members of the House of Representatives reported to the US news site “Axios” that a lot had happened on Wednesday: “In the last few hours I’ve heard from MPs that they really love Joe but want him to resign,” said one MP. Another declared: “The dam is breaking.”
Axios quoted another lawmaker as saying that Biden should “step down and help lead the transition of the candidacy” and that a “very large majority of the caucus shares that view.” A fourth lawmaker told the news site that House Democrats had been “inundated” this week by nervous voters and stakeholders in their districts: “So many people are telling us he can’t win, he needs to step down.”
According to Axios, the MPs have “come to terms with the inevitability” that the Democrats need a new candidate and have chosen Vice President Harris as Biden’s replacement. According to the sources, a draft letter calling on Biden to resign is circulating among the MPs and this is “all anyone is talking about.” The US media company Bloomberg also reports on this letter.
CNN reports that a succession plan is taking shape in the Democratic Party, whereby the president will immediately put his support, campaign funds and delegates at Harris’ disposal in order to prevent the party from being split by a fight for the nomination.
Governor hints at possible solution
“There is what is said publicly and what happens behind closed doors,” confirmed Deutschlandfunk’s US correspondent Doris Simon on her radio station on Thursday morning. When the public is not there, the Democrats are talking about what to do if Biden withdraws his candidacy.
“There is a really tangible effort in the party not to damage the president, who has not only achieved things in office in recent years, but who is also really valued by many people, and even loved by some, in this very difficult step.”
How the Democrats could implement this effort with some success can be heard from the statements of the Governor of Minnesota and Chairman of the Association of Democratic Governors Tim Walz. After an emergency meeting with Biden on Wednesday evening in the White House, Walz demonstratively stood behind the President: “The governors have his back, and we are working together to make that very, very clear,” he announced.
Walz then added a sentence suggesting that Biden could sell a withdrawal as a personal sacrifice for the good of the nation and thus save face: “A path to victory in November is priority No. 1, and it is priority No. 1 for the president.”
Sources: “The Hill”,“Axios”, “Bloomberg”, CNN, Deutschlandfunk, “USA Today”