United States Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told President Joe Biden in a meeting on Saturday (local time) that it would be better for the country and the Democratic Party if he ended his reelection campaign, ABC News has reported.
Schumer’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Reuters news agency on the report.
ABC News said the one-on-one meeting took place at Biden’s home in Rehoboth, Delaware.
“I sat with President Biden this afternoon in Delaware; we had a good meeting,” Schumer said in a statement released on Saturday.
Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged the Democratic National Convention (DNC) to delay plans to hold a virtual vote to renominate Biden, which could have taken place as soon as Sunday, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The DNC’s rules committee will meet on Friday to discuss the virtual vote plans and will finalise them next week, according to a letter sent to members obtained on Wednesday by the Associated Press.
The reports of Schumer’s meeting with Biden follow California representative Adam Schiff’s call for Biden to drop his re-election bid.
The statement comes as the party pushes ahead with plans to hold a virtual vote to formally make Biden its nominee in the first week of August before the Democratic convention opens in person two weeks later.
Democratic concern about the 81-year-old incumbent’s ability to beat , or to serve another four years in office, surged after Biden’s 27 June debate performance.
“A second [Donald] Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the president can defeat Donald Trump in November,” Schiff, a California Democrat who is running for the Senate, was quoted by the Los Angeles Times newspaper as saying.
Nearly two-thirds of Democrat voters say Biden should step aside and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released on Wednesday.
The findings go against Biden’s post-debate claim that “average Democrats” are still with him .
“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” Schiff said in a statement.
“And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.”
Who else has called for Biden to quit the race?
Schiff is the 20th congressional Democrat to publicly urge Biden to withdraw from the presidential race.
Earl Blumenauer, Oregon’s longest-serving US representative, joined a growing number of Democrats in Congress calling on Biden to end his reelection bid last week.
“While this is a decision for the president and the first lady, I hope they will come to the conclusion that I and others have; President Biden should not be the Democratic presidential nominee,” Blumenauer said.
Representative Angie Craig from Minnesota said the president’s performance at the debate against Trump on 27 June, “coupled with a lack of forceful response from the president himself following that debate”, led her to believe he could not “effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump”.
Arizona representative Greg Stanton said Biden needs to step aside as the Democratic nominee “for the sake of American democracy”.
Others who have called for Biden to stop his reelection bid include representatives Ed Case, Lloyd Doggett, Raúl Grijalva, Jim Himes, Mike Levin, Seth Moulton, Scott Peters, Brittany Pettersen, Mike Quigley, Pat Ryan, Brad Schneider, Hillary Scholten, Mikie Sherrill, Adam Smith, Eric Sorensen and Peter Welch.
CNN reported on Wednesday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, too, has told Biden polling shows he cannot defeat Trump and that the president could destroy the Democrats’ chances of winning back control of the House of Representatives.
Pelosi spoke to Biden in a recent telephone call, CNN reported, citing four sources briefed on the call. None of the sources indicated Pelosi told Biden he should leave the race, CNN said.
According to the CNN source, Biden responded by telling Pelosi he has seen polling indicating he can win.
A Pelosi spokesperson told CNN that Pelosi has not spoken to Biden since Friday.
Biden tests positive for COVID-19
The reports of Schumer’s meeting with Biden closely followed the announcement that he tested positive for COVID-19 while on a trip to Las Vegas.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced the positive test after the president of UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights organisation, said Biden would not be able to speak at a scheduled event due to the diagnosis.
“He is vaccinated and boosted and experiencing mild symptoms,” Jean-Pierre said.
Minutes after the announcement, the president’s motorcade was on the move from taping a radio interview to the Las Vegas airport.
The president was returning to Delaware to self-isolate, the White House said.