Joe Biden’s aides try to quell fears among Democratic lawmakers

Some of Joe Biden’s top campaign advisers met with Democratic senators on Thursday (11) to try to ease growing opposition within their own party to the US president’s re-election bid.

This comes on the same day that Biden will hold his first solo press conference in nearly eight months.

Biden’s campaign has been under pressure for two weeks, ever since the 81-year-old politician performed poorly in the CNN against former President Donald Trump, 78.

The case has fueled fears about his age and mental health, issues that have long preoccupied voters in public opinion polls.

In a memo, the Biden campaign said the debate did not dramatically change the race and that it sought to win over undecided voters by shifting the focus of the debate to Trump.

“No one is denying that the debate was a setback. But Joe Biden and his campaign have overcome setbacks before,” the text highlights.

Democratic lawmakers urge Biden to drop out

Last week, several Democratic politicians called on Biden to drop out of the campaign, citing concerns that he could not only lose the White House but also cost the party control of both houses of Congress.

Rep. Hillary Scholten of Michigan joined that group on Thursday: “This isn’t about the past, it’s about the future. It’s time to pass the torch,” she wrote on social media.

“It is essential to have the strongest possible candidate at the top of the ticket,” he commented.

She became the 10th Democratic congresswoman to call on the president to leave the race. In addition, a senator from the party, Peter Welch, joined the list on Wednesday night (10).

But several top lawmakers have said Biden should stay in the race.

Many others, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, declined to say definitively whether the president should drop out or remain on the ticket.

Biden’s entourage in doubt

Doubts seemed to be growing around Biden as well.

The New York Times reported that some of Joe Biden’s longtime advisers were considering ways to convince him to drop out of re-election, while NBC News reported that some campaign officials thought he had no chance of winning the election.

Several allies, including Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon, are meeting with Democratic senators to try to shore up support for the president in the House of Representatives, where he served from 1973 to 2009.

In its strategy memo, Biden’s campaign argued that a tight race for the White House was always expected, and that it was possible to win by focusing on three key states: Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

This seems to indicate that these states will be prioritized over others that Biden won in 2020, such as Nevada, Georgia and Arizona.