JNS
New polling shows the president trailing Trump in critical battleground states.
Since the debate in late June that was widely viewed as a disaster for President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been listening to Democratic donors who want another name on the top of the ticket, Axios reported on Wednesday.
The American news site cited three people familiar with the matter, who said over the last 12 days, the top Democrat has been receptive to different ideas about how best to defeat Republican candidate Donald Trump in November's election.
"As I have made clear repeatedly publicly and privately, I support President Biden and remain committed to ensuring Donald Trump is defeated in November," Schumer said in a statement after the Axios story was published.
Amid increasing concerns about his mental fitness following the debate and his ability to lead the country for another four years, Biden has assured that he is not dropping out of the race, despite calls from some of his allies to reconsider.
Another powerful Democrat, former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Wednesday that "we're all encouraging" Biden to make a final decision on whether he will make another run for the White House.
"It's up to the president to decide if he is going to run," Pelosi said. "The time is running short."
She later clarified her remarks on CBS News, saying that she "never said he should reconsider his decision" and that "I want him to do whatever he decides to do. And that's the way it is. Whatever he decides we go with."
Pelosi also suggested that talk of Biden's political future should hold off until after the NATO summit in Washington. The conference marking the 75th anniversary of the intergovernmental military alliance wraps on Thursday. Many Democratic lawmakers and donors will be watching Biden's post-NATO press conference that day to see how he performs before making any further decisions.
Some, however, are not waiting. Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon on Wednesday became the ninth House Democrat to publicly call for Biden to drop out of the race. Some prominent donors, including Hollywood actor and filmmaker George Clooney, are also urging Biden to end his bid for a second term.
In an opinion piece published in The Washington Post on Wednesday, Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont became the first Democratic senator to call on Biden to withdraw from the race.
The mounting pressure to replace Biden with a potentially more viable candidate comes amid polling released Wednesday by The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter showing the president falling behind Trump in three key swing states—Arizona, Georgia and Nevada.
The Cook Political Report also introduced its Trump vs. Biden national polling average, which tracks the race using the average of 21 national polls. It shows a 47% to 44% lead for Trump over Biden, calling the results "the most drastic shift in the race all year."
While Schumer is publicly still supporting Biden's re-election campaign, he earlier this year called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign, in a speech on the Senate floor. He said Israel should hold early elections to oust the governing coalition when the war against Hamas winds down, drawing accusations of interfering in a foreign country's domestic affairs.
