An unnamed senior Biden White House official is apparently pushing back on all of the speculation about the president stepping away from his campaign. This anonymous official claims that President Biden may be hitting the campaign trail again–as early as next week.
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As President Biden faces mounting calls from prominent Democrats to drop out of the race, a member of his inner circle flatly denied reports that the president is now more open to the idea of ending his campaign.
“Anyone who has talked to Joe Biden in the last 24 hours can tell you that is not true,” the senior White House official, who has spoken to Biden today, told ABC News.
The official said nothing has changed regarding Biden’s candidacy and the campaign, with the exception that COVID is keeping him home.
“He is going to win the nomination and then the party is going to need to unite,” the official said.
As noted, the remarks come on the heels of Biden catching COVID once again, and being forced off the trail, as we reported on Wednesday, with an update from his doctor and the White House on Thursday:
There’s a New Biden Doctor’s Note, and More WH Spin on His Being ‘Kept Up to Speed’ in Delaware
Color me skeptical. The calls for Joe Biden to step away from the campaign, having paused briefly after last Saturday’s assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life, have in the last few days been ramping up again:
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This senior official – whoever he or she is – has certainly heard these admonitions for the president to let someone else take over the campaign. A replacement that would, presumably, not lose catastrophically to the resurgent Donald Trump:
The senior official expressed anger and frustration at the criticism Biden is taking from fellow Democrats, acknowledging that the calls for the president to drop out have taken a toll and will likely cause further erosion in the polls.
This official also told ABC News that reports to the contrary are coming out of Congress, and not from those who truly know the mindset of the president.
“He is preparing to hit the campaign trail again next week,” the official said.
This seems an awful lot like whistling past the graveyard, the graveyard containing Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection hopes.
Partisan Republicans would be delighted to have Joe Biden remain in the race, even as we may feel some sympathy for this befuddled old man who has dug in his heels without having all that much idea whether he’s running for President or the Senate; a man who was never the sharpest knife in the drawer, and who is now deteriorating at a logarithmic rate.
It’s really kind of sad.
The question becomes, at this juncture, what options are open to Democrats if Joe Biden, despite all the calls for him to step away, gets stubborn about stepping away. The Democrat Party rules, as detailed by RedState’s Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar in June, make it impracticable to force Joe Biden out until after the convention.
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See Related:Yes, Democrats Can Replace Biden – With Newsom or Anyone They Want. Here’s How.
At this point, every day Joe Biden remains on the ticket makes the improbable more closely approach the impossible. Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s poll numbers in the battleground states are improving, Trump himself is practically dripping with strength and confidence, and Democrats are approaching panic.
Prediction: Joe Biden won’t be back on the campaign trail next week. If he is, look for him to lurch from embarrassment to embarrassment until, finally, not even his handlers (let’s say this softly) Hunter and Jill Biden will be able to make a case for keeping him as the candidate.