WASHINGTON — Members of President Joe Biden’s family have discussed what an exit from his campaign might look like, according to two people familiar with the discussions.
The general tone of the conversations is that any exit plan — if Biden decides to make the move, as some of his closest allies increasingly believe — should put the party in the best position to defeat former President Donald Trump, as he deserves. He served the country in elected positions for more than five decades, these people said.
Biden’s family members specifically discussed how he wants to end his re-election bid in a timely and carefully calculated plan. They said that considerations related to the impact of the campaign on his health, family and the stability of the country were at the forefront of the discussions, and they were closely familiar with the discussions.
The prospect of Biden considering stepping aside is an extraordinary development, as his family works on a possible exit plan, after the party’s presumptive nominee has repeatedly said he will not give up his position.
But with each passing day since the devastating debate three weeks ago, concerns have grown among party leaders, donors and even officials who are part of his re-election effort. Meanwhile, Democrats are watching Republicans rally around Trump, who survived an assassination attempt Thursday night and accepted his party’s nomination.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates denied that there were any such exit discussions between the family.
“It’s not happening, period,” he said. “Those making these allegations do not speak for his family or his team – and they will be proven wrong. Keep the faith.”
On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Friday, Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon acknowledged the campaign has seen some “slippage,” but she said it’s a “small movement” and insisted Biden is “definitely” still in the race. .
Ron Klein, Biden’s former White House chief of staff and adviser for decades, said in an interview that he had heard public and private calls for Biden to drop out.
“I think he feels the pressure,” said Klain, who spoke with Biden recently. “I want him to stay.”
According to Klein, it makes no sense to sideline Biden. Some in his party, he said, underestimate Trump at their peril and underestimate the fact that Biden is the only person who has beaten him before.
Biden and those closest to him felt burned by efforts to push him, as they saw it backhanded and disrespectful. The family is distraught and going through stages of anger and grief over how the president has been treated by people they considered friends.
“If that’s what they wanted, there was a more dignified way to do it,” a Biden ally said. “A civil servant who has done a lot for this country should not be treated like this.”
According to a person close to the re-election effort, discussions about how to implement an appropriate plan for Biden’s exit have been held not only among the president’s family but also among senior staff. Bates also denied that these discussions took place.
Biden’s most trusted family members include first lady Jill Biden, son Hunter and sister Valerie Owens, as well as several longtime close aides who have been at the heart of the debate.
Talk of Biden’s political future heated up as he remained at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, after testing positive for Covid on Wednesday.
On Thursday, some of Biden’s closest aides called trusted allies to get a sense of where he stands politically, according to a person familiar with the phone calls.
One Democratic lawmaker described Biden as “reflective” at the moment.
Expectations are growing among some allies that if Biden does leave, it will be in the coming days. But they also warn that the decision is still up to him, and he is not ready to quit even if he faces seemingly insurmountable challenges.
“We don’t even know what we’re going to do tomorrow,” a person close to the Bidens said of the possibility of any announcement being imminent.
Still, Biden is not immune to mounting pressure from his own party, and he has said since the debate that he might consider dropping out of the race if there is no way he can win.
“I think it’s inevitable,” a second person close to the re-election effort said of Biden’s withdrawal from the race.
As the news spread, including from NBC News, that Biden has shown signs that he may be reversing his insistence on remaining a candidate, rumors and reports — some strongly denied by the president’s allies — began to fly. They included the timing of the potential speech, whether Biden would immediately endorse Vice President Kamala Harris and speculation about whether she would be on the short list for the vice presidential nomination.
Among the reports: longtime speaker and historian Jon Meacham penned Biden’s speech remarks.
Meacham dismissed the bill.
“The report is completely false,” he said.
Amid the confusion, the Biden campaign sent out talking points to Democrats over their strategy: “President Biden did not speak to congressional leadership today. The president is the candidate of his party, winning 14 million votes during the primary elections of the Democrats. He is running for re-election and that will not change until he wins re-election.”
As many in his own party turned against him, Biden continued to reach out to allies this week and gauge their sentiments.
Biden told the Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights leader and MSNBC host, in a phone call Monday that “Despite all the rumors that I’m going, I’m not going,” Sharpton said.
“Whatever you decide, I will support it,” Sharpton told the president.
Sharpton said in an interview Thursday that legacy is something Biden “needs to think about” as he considers his political future. “If there’s anyone who can come back … it’s Joe Biden. I don’t know if he chooses or not.”
Biden’s camp had some he hoped he would be able to weather a storm of pressure to step aside — news events, including the Republican National Convention, would shift the national conversation away from whether or not he would finish his campaign. But even Saturday’s assassination attempt on Trump did little to quell the anger around Biden. If anything, Democrats have turned up the heat since then.
The main factor behind the personal pressure on Biden is the fear among Democrats that his candidacy could deprive them not only of the White House and the Senate, but also of the chance to control the House of Representatives. That helps explain why top lawmakers are pushing Biden to reconsider his decision to stay in the race.
“It’s on the doorstep of the House,” said Brian Wolff, treasurer of House Majority PAC, the main super PAC supporting House Democratic House candidates. “These candidates do not deserve it.”
Wolff said Democratic candidates and challengers in tight races cannot risk splitting their electoral coalitions by clearly siding with one side or the other while Biden considers his options.
“They can’t alienate the base that wants to support Biden or the base that wants somebody else,” he said.