President Biden faces another test in what appears to be a continuing series of them Thursday night, when he holds a rare news conference amid concerns that the 81-year-old may not be able to win reelection or govern for another four years.
Biden has held fewer news conferences on average annually than any predecessor since President Reagan. Thursday's meeting with reporters comes exactly two weeks after a clumsy debate with former President Trump sparked massive concern both inside and outside the Democratic Party.
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll released Thursday gave Biden some good news: a 46-46 tie with Trump, who has been building up a lead in many other polls both nationally and in key states. But the same poll found that two-thirds of Americans, including 56% of Democrats, want him out of the race.
Peter Welch of Vermont became the first Democratic senator to publicly call for Biden to drop out of the race on Wednesday night, joining a small group of House colleagues and actor George Clooney, who made his call Wednesday just weeks after co-hosting a high-dollar Hollywood fundraiser for him.
“The stakes could not be higher,” Welch wrote in an op-ed published in the Washington Post. “We cannot forget President Biden’s disastrous performance in the debate. We cannot ignore or dismiss the valid questions that have been raised since that night.”
Biden has been trying to buy time since the debate, tamping down broader calls from high-profile Democrats, including many lawmakers who have said privately they expected him to step down on his own. He has failed to satisfy many supporters who have called for a series of unscripted events and has largely limited himself to public speeches with teleprompters, including events with foreign leaders in Washington this week as part of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization conference.
Last week, Biden’s impromptu interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos received mixed reviews, but he was later caught on camera saying he didn’t think Biden could serve another four years in office. Biden’s defiant phone call Monday to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” (his favorite cable news show) appeared to head off a wave of congressional defections, but it didn’t quell concerns. Biden has another network interview planned for Monday with NBC’s Lester Holt.
Biden is hoping to keep his detractors at bay for as long as possible, making it harder for the party to replace him. But even if he makes no mistakes, he is unlikely to win over party insiders and regular voters who believe the damage has already been done, especially if he makes another public stumble before the November election.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) suggested as much on Wednesday in her own appearance on “Morning Joe,” ignoring Biden’s insistence that he had already decided to stay in the race.
“It is up to the president to decide whether he will run or not,” he said. “We all encourage him to make that decision because time is running out.”
