President Joe Biden feels personally hurt and betrayed by the way so many Democrats, including some of the party’s top leaders, have left him hung out to dry as he faces the biggest crisis of his political career, according to two sources familiar with his thinking.
And privately, many of those leaders have expressed doubts about his path forward.
Former President Barack Obama’s only public comment came the day after Biden’s disastrous debate last month, when he tweeted “Bad debate nights happen“ and talked about his former vice president’s virtues. Privately, however, Obama has concerns.
Bill and Hillary Clinton have done nothing publicly other than each putting out a tweet shortly after the June 27 debate.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, both of New York, as well as Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House speaker, have spent weeks listening to their members’ concerns and relaying them to Biden and his campaign. Publicly, all three have said they support whatever decision Biden makes, but even behind closed doors, they haven’t told congressional Democrats to get behind Biden or given them any guidance about what they should do.
Their responses have been notable and have reverberated across the party. Typically, the congressional leaders have shown unflinching loyalty to Biden in difficult moments. Biden has a decadeslong history with Pelosi and Schumer, working closely with them during his time in Congress and in two administrations to pass monumental legislation.
The sources said Biden feels angry at how the party has tried to push him out. A source close to Biden criticized senior Democratic leaders for “[giving] us Donald Trump.”
“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? In 2015, Obama, Pelosi, Schumer pushed Biden aside in favor of Hillary; they were wrong then, and they are wrong now,” the source told NBC News.
The source pointed to polling in the 2016 election that found Hillary Clinton leading by as much as 9 points.
“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?” the source added in unusually blunt language that represents the views of those closest to Biden.
The Democratic leaders’ silence has left Biden weakened and alone, creating a vacuum that Democrats have filled with a constant stream of doubts and questions. Not only do Democrats fear a defeat to Trump if the situation doesn’t change; some also fear a drag on the ticket that could deliver Trump unchecked power in the form of submissive Republican majorities in Congress.For Biden and his team, it has forced near-daily denials and increasingly combative interactions with the media. The president has also tightened his circle of advisers to only a few people he trusts.
Reached for comment, the campaign referred NBC News to deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks’ remarks Thursday vowing that Biden is staying in the race.
“He is not wavering on anything,” Fulks said in Milwaukee. “Our campaign is moving forward, drawing a vision and a contrast between that of Project 2025 and what we’ve seen for the past three days here in Milwaukee — the extreme agenda of Republicans — and that’s where our focus is. There are no plans being made to replace President Biden on the ballot, and President Biden is cognizant this is a margin-of-error race.”
Schumer, when asked, has said publicly, “I’m with Joe.” Jeffries said in a recent letter that he shared with Biden “the full breadth” of views among House Democrats. And Pelosi has said it’s Biden’s decision to make. All three have made it clear they will support Biden if he runs, without telling colleagues to tamp down their skepticism.
For his party, it has created a sense of purgatory. Biden has insisted, repeatedly and emphatically, that he isn’t leaving the race. But many Democrats refuse to take no for an answer, with the steady trickle of calls for him to step aside — and the lukewarm remarks from party leaders — fueling a belief across the party that the matter isn’t closed.
On Thursday night, Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, one of the party’s most vulnerable members seeking re-election, became the second senator and the 22nd Democrat in Congress to call on Biden to exit the race.
Though they are scattered across the country during congressional recess, Democrats are coalescing around the idea that it’s not a matter of if Joe Biden steps down as their nominee, but when, according to multiple sources who’ve shared the sentiment.
“We are preparing,” a Democratic member said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
A Democratic strategist said many in the party are growing impatient with the vacuum and are eager for the intraparty fight to end, a sentiment echoed by Hill lawmakers since the debate.
“I just want a decision,” the strategist said.
Some fear the squabbling is drowning out their message against Trump.
“We've got to have this settled sooner than later, because I want to campaign. We have the better candidates, the fundraising momentum and the issues on our side — so let’s get to it,” the strategist added. “The sooner we get this behind us, the sooner we can get back to the campaigning and focus on winning.”
It has also sparked a peculiar set of dynamics for Democrats across the ideological spectrum. Those in battleground states and districts are reluctant to break with Biden for fear of alienating his loyal supporters. Progressives are successfully seizing the moment to push Biden to embrace some of their policy ideas — like expanding Social Security, eliminating medical debt and slapping term limits and ethics rules on the Supreme Court.
The series of leaks Wednesday night about Biden’s private discussions with congressional leaders, as well as reporting from NBC News on Thursday afternoon that Biden world is bracing for the possibility that he will step aside, didn’t go unnoticed by lawmakers — and it ratcheted up an already intense situation in the party. Several in the party have pointed to Pelosi as someone who has moved the process along behind the scenes.
“This had to be handled very delicately, and I think Pelosi has done a masterful job as a tactician,” a Democratic official said. “Like, could this all have been sped up a week? Sure. But Pelosi made clear with her nonanswers where she was going, and it did take time to see more polling and the subsequent appearances.”
A House Democrat said Pelosi “has the force within the party. If she were to say [drop out] and he didn’t agree, if she were to go public, then that would be tremendously damaging.”
Some Democrats have opted to keep their powder dry on a statement asking Biden to drop out because they don’t think it would make a difference. Others see it as unnecessary at this point.
“I believe [the dam] is breaking now for him to get out,” another Democratic member said. “Members may be feeling that there is no need to pile on at this point.”
But still, several sources have hinted at the possibility of a “bigger push” from House Democrats when they return to Washington next week, with some hoping Biden withdraws his name as the Democratic nominee before then and saves them from having to do it.
If he doesn’t, Monday could be a “big day” in terms of seeing a larger reaction from lawmakers, a source said, adding it might spread across the week depending on Biden's posture.
Other members, like Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., lashed out, saying on X that neither confirming nor denying leaks about leadership conversations with the president is “a lack of leadership and it’s making all Democrats look bad.”
She added that “whatever this mess leads to will not undo the damage that has already been inflicted.”
Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., the first senator to call for Biden’s exit from the race, said that the back-and-forth “has been a top of mind concern for all” Democrats he has spoken to and that he believes there is “significant movement toward the president making a decision to step aside.”
As for the “when” of it all, a Democratic lawmaker who wants Biden to exit the race quipped that he should do so Thursday night “at 9:08 p.m.,” adding: “It won’t happen. But they should just get it over with.”
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a close Biden ally who occupies his old Senate seat, said Biden deserves the space he needs to “hear from trusted partners and leaders” as he weighs in future.
“Look, I think he weighs very seriously the input of those he trusts and admires, those who served with him. And beyond that I’m not going to get into the details,” Coons said on CNN. “I think he deserves the respect of being able to reflect on this moment.”
Mike Memoli
Mike Memoli is an NBC News correspondent.
Ali Vitali is a Capitol Hill correspondent for NBC News, based in Washington.She is the author of "Electable: Why America Hasn’t Put a Woman in the White House ... Yet."
Rebecca Kaplan
and
Scott Wong
contributed
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