Biden repeatedly affirms commitment to 2024 campaign despite Democrats' calls to step aside
President Biden continues to affirm solid commitment to staying in the presidential race despite widespread pressure from the Democratic Party to step aside.
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A mobile advertising truck displaying a political message near President Biden's beach house in Reboboth Beach, Delaware, Saturday, July 20, 2024. The President is under pressure to drop out of the 2024 election. (Fox News Digital)
A truck with a billboard that urged those closest to President Biden to help him step down from the presidential race was seen driving near his Reboboth Beach house in Delaware on Saturday.
The billboard’s message, written like an email on the back of the truck, said it was an “urgent memo.”
“To: Biden family, friends, allies, staff,” it continued with the “Subject: It’s your responsibility.”
“In this moment, as he considers his future, President Biden should hear the truth from the people who have always had his back,” it said.
The side of the truck had the same message along with a black and white photo of the president.
Biden is recuperating from the coronavirus at the beach house.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking at the Democratic Unity Dinner in Raleigh, North Carolina Saturday night. (Fox News)
Democrats in North Carolina held a ‘Unity Dinner’ Saturday evening that included Gov. Roy Cooper, Attorney General Josh Stein -- who is running for governor -- and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as the party grapples with infighting over whether President Biden will remain the nominee. Democrats continue to call on him to leave the presidential race.
Biden, who is recuperating in Delaware from a coronavirus infection, was not at the dinner, but spoke to attendees in a video that touted his and Democrats’ accomplishments over the last four years, including the bipartisan infrastructure and gun safety laws.
Pelosi briefly praised Biden for his successes, but mainly focused on talking about the North Carolina Democrats running for office and slamming Republicans, claiming all they did when Trump was president was pass a bill that helped the very richest Americans and added to the national debt.
She also criticized Republicans’ Project 2025, claiming it is a “manual for Republicans to implement an imperial presidency” that would “gut checks and balances.”
Pelosi didn’t mention Trump by name, instead repeatedly calling him “what’s his name.”
Quoting the national anthem, she said “That is what is at stake in this election.”
In closing, Pelosi urged, “No regrets the day after the election.”
Vice President Kamala Harris holds a campaign event that is her seventh visit to North Carolina this year and 15th trip to the state since taking office in Fayetteville NC, United States on July 18, 2024 (Photo by Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Vice President Kamala Harris remained on the campaign trail on Saturday as President Biden recovers from a coronavirus infection and as calls continue for him to step down as the nominee.
"We are going to win this election," Harris said at the 1,000-person fundraiser in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. "It's not going to be easy but we are a group of people that understand anything worthwhile takes hard work."
She added that Biden is “fighting for the American people."
Following the fundraiser, Harris gave a thumbs up after a reporter asked if she had spoken to the president and another thumbs up when asked “Is he doing OK?” before boarding Air Force Two bound for Joint Base Andrews.
Reuters contributed to this report.
“Time is running out” for President Biden to decide if he’s leaving the presidential race, Axios political reporter Stef Kight told Fox News on Saturday, as members of the party continue to call on the incumbent to "pass the torch."
“Time is running out for various reasons if Democrats even want to have a chance of regaining a sense of unity before November this decision needs to be made one way or the other very, very soon,” Kight explained.
With the Nov. 5 election is just 108 days away, Republicans officially nominated former President Trump as their nominee at the RNC last week while Democrats are still infighting.
Kight added, “Of course, if Biden does decide to step aside that’s going to unlock a whole debate over where to go from there, whether Democrats have enough support for Vice President [Kamala] Harris to kind of crown her the nominee or if we see sort of this loose primary situation where a couple of candidates throw their names into the hat and so there really is pressure for Biden to do this very, very soon.”
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for Aug. 19-22.
“It’s clear that people want Biden to make that decision soon,” Kight added.
Rep. Adam Schiff calling on President Biden to drop out of the presidential race this week is a sign of “selfish desperation” on his part, Schiff’s Republican opponent Steve Garvey told Fox News Digital.
Garvey pointed out that Schiff’s message to Biden came just as it was revealed that Garvey had outraised his Democratic opponent by more than $1 million.
"Adam Schiff's recent act of selfish desperation to abandon his presidential nominee has caused a clear reaction from his supporters on his social media," Garvey, the Republican candidate vying to fill the late Dianne Feinstein's seat, told Fox News Digital. "It's now clear to his supporters what has been clear to millions of Americans for years, that Adam Schiff only cares about Adam Schiff, and Californians deserve a senator that puts them above politics."
Schiff told Fox News Digital that a "second 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."
Earlier this week, Schiff said: "Joe Biden has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation's history, and his lifetime of service as a Senator, a Vice President, and now as President has made our country better. But our nation is at a crossroads.”
He added that he believed it was time for the president to “pass the torch” but said he will strenuously try to get the nominee, whether it’s the president or not, elected come November.
It was a change in rhetoric from Schiff who in February questioned special counsel Robert Hur saying in his classified documents report that Biden could come off to a jury as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."
Schiff told Hur his report "disparage[d] the president" and insisted Hur knew his report "would have a maximal political impact,” which Hur denied.
Click here to read more of this story by Kyle Morris on Fox News Digital.
Kyle Morris contributed to this report.
Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in March. Photographer: Rachel Jessen/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Some Democratic donors are reportedly privately vetting several possible vice-presidential picks in case President Biden drops his bid for reelection and Vice President Kamala Harris becomes the nominee.
The effort is not part of the Democratic National Committee or the Biden campaign, according to the Washington Post, citing four sources.
The committee is vetting Democrats such as Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer – but it’s unclear if any of the politicians are involved in the effort themselves.
A person close to Kelly said they aren’t aware of any outside donors attempting to vet him as a vice presidential pick, but said when he’s heard from supporters asking him to vie for a national office, “what they are hearing back is, Kelly supports Biden and Harris.”
The donors might not be allowed to deal directly with a potential Harris campaign, however, because of election laws, meaning the donors might have to reveal their vetting findings publicly. This could be an issue as vetting is usually a confidential process.
The donors are reportedly trying to get a jump on the vetting process with only 108 days until the election on Nov. 5.
Biden’s campaign so far has said he plans to stay in the race and is “in it to win it.”
An op-ed in “The Hill” on Saturday titled "Ready for Round 2: Why we Need Hillary more than ever” has raised some eyebrows.
"The strongest argument against replacing President Joe Biden as the 2024 Democratic nominee is the notion that no suitable successor exists. But there is, and not just a good one but one of the most qualified people ever to run for the office: Hillary Rodham Clinton,” opinion contributor Pablo O’Hana wrote.
Of course, Clinton lost to former President Trump in 2016.The piece caught senior Trump advisor Jason Miller’s eye with him writing on social media: "SHE’S RUNNING!!! These opinion pieces don’t happen organically - Crooked is on the move!!!"
O'Hana argued that Clinton is "perhaps the mightiest of all" alternatives to Biden because she is "younger than both Biden and Trump," has "an unparalleled resume and an unmatched depth of experience," and is a strong advocate "for children's rights and health care."
He added, “Clinton can turn past regrets” on the part of voters who didn’t cast their ballot for her “into proactive support by being a powerful reminder of the stakes of straying in 2024."
Most Democrats seem to have coalesced around the idea of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee if Biden were to drop out.
Click here to read this article by Gabriel Hays on Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital exclusive photos show Hunter Biden out and about in Los Angeles while his father, President Joe Biden, remained hunkered down on the other side of the country, battling to save his legacy.
The younger Biden, who has reportedly been closely advising his father as a chorus of key Democrats have called on him to end his re-election bid, was seen shopping Friday and leaving the home of "Sugar Bro" Kevin Morris, the entertainment lawyer who funded his defense in a recent criminal trial.
President Biden has reportedly relied heavily on his troubled Yale Law School graduate son and his wife, first lady Jill Biden, as he has tried to fend off claims he is not mentally fit to serve another four years as president.
The calls reached a crescendo following his disastrous performance in his June 27 debate against former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.
Click here to read more of this article by Peter Aitken on Fox News Digital.
Rallygoer holds up sign that says "We love you but it's time" in front of the White House.
Holding signs like “We love you but it’s time,” “Country over candidacy” and “You promised us a bridge, don’t give us a wall,” dozens of Democrats and progressives chanted “Pass the Torch” at a rally outside of the White House Saturday afternoon.
The group was urging President Biden to drop out of the presidential race so another Democrat can replace him to go up against former President Trump in November.
Despite the rainy weather, impassioned speakers talked about the importance of beating Trump and having the best candidate in place to do so.
“We need Biden to pass the torch to the next generation of Democrats,” one speaker told the crowd,” adding that they would be “committed to doing everything we can do to stop Donald Trump” by uniting the party and voting for Democrats.
The speaker added it would be very uniting to see the “leader of the party hand over their power for the greater good.”
Photo by Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., voiced her support for Vice President Harris to “unite the party” should President Biden decide to ultimately leave the Democrat ticket.
“If President Biden decides to step back, we have Vice President Kamala Harris, who is ready to step up to unite the party, to take on Donald Trump, and to win in November,” Warren said during an appearance Saturday on MSNBC.
Warren stressed that “Joe Biden is our nominee” and that he has a “big decision to make,” but that Harris gives her “a lot of hope.”
“Kamala has led the charge in order to fight back against the Republicans that want a nationwide abortion ban, and, look, if you’re running against a convicted felon, then a prosecutor like Kamala is really a good person to make that case,” Warren added.“
No matter what happens, I will be out there fighting for Democrats. I believe we’re going to come together and we’re going to win in November.”
US President Joe Biden speaks with White House Physician Kevin O'Connor as he arrives back at the White House in Washington, DC, on August 28, 2023. (Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
The White House issued a fresh update on President Biden’s health, assuring that his condition continues to improve even as symptoms persist.“
He is still experiencing a loose, non-productive cough and hoarseness, but his symptoms continue to improve steadily,” Kevin O’Connor, Physician to the President, wrote in a letter to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
“His pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature remain absolutely normal,” O’Connor noted. “His oxygen saturation continues to be excellent on room air. His lungs remain clear.”
The update on his vitals indicates no fever, which during the COVID-19 pandemic indicated a worsening condition.
The new variant of the virus the president contracted accounts for 33.3% of new cases in the United States, according to O’Conner.
“The President continues to tolerate treatment well and will continue PAXLOVID as planned,” he wrote, noting it is Biden’s sixth dose of treatment. “He continues to perform all his presidential duties.”
Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., has added his voice to the growing number of elected Democrats calling for President Biden to drop out of the race and “pass the torch to Kamala Harris.”
“Perhaps no President in my lifetime has accomplished more in a single term or been as decent a human being as Joe Biden,” Takano, the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, wrote in a statement posted on social media platform X.
“President Biden’s greatest accomplishment remains saving democracy in 2020,” Tanako continued. “He can and must do so again in 2024 – by passing the torch to Vice President Harris as the Democratic Party Presidential nominee.”
“It has become clear to me that the demands of a modern campaign are now best met by the Vice President, who can seamlessly transition into the role as our party’s standard bearer,” he insisted.
“Joe, I love and respect you, but he stakes are too high to fail. It’s time to pass the torch to Kamala,” Takano stressed.
Photo by Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital
In a post on Truth Social, former President Donald Trump blasted President Biden as the “WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES” and took shots at the various legal cases against him, most of which have been dismissed or delayed.
“He has created a horrible precedent for the future,” Trump wrote. “Democrat appointed Judges and Prosecutors, together with local D.A.’s and Attorney Generals, have played the game with them.”
“Based on the opinion of legal scholars and experts, they had no good case out of the many against me, but of all their cases, their best shot was the documents case, a complete HOAX, in Florida,” Trump insisted.
“They illegally RAIDED MY HOUSE, Mar-a-Lago, in that one,” he added. “Well, that case was just THROWN OUT IN FULL IN THAT IT WAS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. THE OTHERS ARE ON WEAK GROUNDS, including those where we have Crooked Judges and Prosecutors.”
Trump denounced the whole effort as a “Political Witch Hunt” and demanded that Biden insist on dropping ever case to run a “FAIR AND OPEN CAMPAIGN.”
Photo by Andrew Toth/FilmMagic
The Biden campaign is looking to tap some star power as the president returns to the campaign trail, roping in David Letterman to headline a fundraiser on July 29.
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green will join the former "Late Night" host in stumping for donors at the house of a Biden family friend on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden will attend the event as well as part of a fundraising gauntlet the president plans to hit as he sees out the month ahead of his planned certification by the DNC.
The Associated Press reported that Biden will have 10 fundraisers over the last 10 days of July.
Green told the Associated Press that he expects Biden to stay in the race, but if he does step down then Vice-President Kamala Harris will likely get the nod to succeed him.
“I think the president stays in this race unless he feels that it is not winnable, or he feels that he has to hear other voices in his inner circle that he shouldn’t run,” Green said. “If the president felt that he wasn’t up to it and truly not up to it, he would step down.”
U.S. Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) speaks during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing titled "Improving Rail Safety in Response to the East Palestine Derailment" in Washington, U.S., March 22, 2023. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, has pushed the argument that a President Biden unfit to seek a second term is also unfit to remain in office for the last months of his current administration.
“Everyone calling on Joe Biden to stop running without also calling on him to resign the presidency is engaged in an absurd level of cynicism,” Vance wrote on social media platform X.
“If you can’t run, you can’t serve,” Vance stressed. “He should resign now.”
Vance joins the calls from other Republicans who over the past week have tried to make the push to get Biden off the ticket one and the same as getting Biden out of office.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on Friday argued that “if he’s not going to be their nominee because he's not up to it, how can he be our president for the next six months?"
“If there's something wrong with you that doesn't allow you to run for president, how can you still be there as president?” Rubio told Politico. “If they're going to remove him as nominee, they’ve got to remove him as president, and that's really bad for our country."
US President Joe Biden speaks to members of the media while departing Mass at St. Edmond's Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on September 3, 2023.
President Biden plans to return to the campaign trail as soon as possible, with plans to visit Georgia and Texas in the coming days.
Axios reported that Biden has started laying out his travel plans as he recovers from COVID-19 at his Delaware beach house in Rehoboth. He has resisted calls from his party to step down, with his communications team holding a remote press conference on Saturday to push the argument for a second Biden presidency.
The calls for Biden to step down has drawn over 30 sitting Democrat congressmembers: Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, on Friday urged Biden to “end his campaign,” arguing that “our full attention must return to these important issues.”
One senior Democrat official told Axios that the entire issue feels “stuck” at the moment, adding that it’s “not to say it’s going to stay stuck.”
Senior officials are pushing Biden to make a final decision over the weekend and have continued arguing with Biden advisers as to why bowing out would best serve the good of the party.
"It's a fairly universal sentiment internally that we have reached the end of the road," one Biden aide admitted, noting that some key hold outs will keep fighting to keep Biden in the race.
The rulemaking body of the Democratic National Convention is preparing to vote on President Biden as the party's presidential nominee.
The Democratic National Convention’s Rules Committee members voted Friday for a virtual roll call on Aug. 7 to certify Biden's victory, despite widespread upset over what many call visible mental decline.
The nearly 200 committee members will meet again on or before July 26 to formally adopt the virtual roll call format.
The vote itself will be held in the first week of August and is thus far expected to serve as a rubber stamp on the Biden campaign;
President Biden's campaign is planning fundraising events that extend through to the end of the month.
The Biden-Harris ticket is holding a fundraiser on July 29th in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts that will feature special guests talk show legend David Letterman and Hawaiian Gov. Josh Green.
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden will be in attendance.
Green, who has been governor of Hawaii since 2022, is a personal friend of the Bidens. The governor is among the administration's closest political allies.
“We support the President, the V.P. and the Democratic Party, in good and tough times because he has been there for us as a family and a state," Green told the Associated Press.
With the Democratic Party set to follow through on plans for an early roll call nominating Biden as their presidential candidate, this fundraiser is further proof of the campaign's commitment to staying on the ballot.
Vice President Kamala Harris attends a moderated conversation with former Trump administration national security official Olivia Troye and former Republican voter Amanda Stratton in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke on the phone with approximately 300 major Democratic Party donors on Friday, telling them there was nothing to worry about within President Biden's campaign, despite the media kerfuffle.
“I will start by sharing something with all of you, something I believe in my heart of hearts. It is something I feel strongly you should all hear and should take with you when you leave, and tell your friends too,” Harris told the donors, according to multiple reports. “We are going to win this election. We are going to win.”
Harris spoke to donors via video for approximately five minutes, championing the Biden administration and sharply criticizing former President Donald Trump's rhetoric at the Republican National Convention.
"Let me be clear: Trump’s convention this week was one big attempt to distract people," Harris reportedly told donors. "He wants to distract attention away from his record and his Project 2025 plan. Can you believe they put it in writing? It is further empirical evidence that the stakes of this election couldn’t be higher.”
The call was intended to quell fears among party donors that backlash against Biden from within his party could prove disastrous for his campaign.
Biden has been consistent and clear that he intends to stay in the race and run against Trump in November as the Democratic Party nominee.
The Biden campaign took a swipe at “anonymous” sources that have relayed concerns from within the Democratic Party about the president's candidacy as questions continue about his physical and mental state.
Campaign Spokesperson Kevin Munoz highlighted Biden TV interviews this past week and support from Black women and Hispanic groups, while linking Trump to the conservative Project 2025 agenda, which has been portrayed as a blueprint for a future Republican administration, which he has disavowed.
“Donald Trump and Republicans – despite claims of a 'new tone – their message is the same: Revenge and retribution,” Munoz said in a memo released Friday evening highlighting why Biden should stay in the race. "Their convention focused on bowing down to Putin, mass deportation, and inflicting their Project 2025 agenda on the American people."
Biden scrapped several campaign events this week after contracting COVID-19. He is self-isolating in Delaware. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris is on the campaign trial.
“And as we’ve said before, President Biden is excited to get back on the campaign trail as soon as he can,” he added.
In making his case, Munoz highlighted the Republican National Convention that concluded Thursday in Milwaukee.
“Attendees brandished signs calling for 'Mass Deportations Now,' while an architect of Trump’s cruel family separation policy took center stage during the convention’s primetime slot,” he said.
“JD Vance, the poster child for Project 2025’s extremism, was unveiled as Trump’s running mate and, in becoming Trump’s vice presidential nominee, doubled down on a future of abortion bans, worse access to health care, and higher costs for middle-class Americans," added Munoz.
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