Thursday, July 18, 2024

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1/ Obama privately told allies that Biden needs to seriously reconsider his candidacy because his path to victory has been greatly diminished since the debate. Obama said he’s concerned that the polls and donors are moving away from Biden, while Trump’s electoral path is expanding. (Washington Post)

2/ Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and Nancy Pelosi each told Biden separately that he should reconsider his reelection bid ‚Äď or else risk losing and dragging the rest of the Democrats down with him. Schumer was reportedly ‚Äúblunt‚ÄĚ and ‚Äúpretty harsh,‚ÄĚ saying it would be better for the country and the Democratic Party if he ended his reelection campaign. Jeffries offered a similar message, saying Biden could put Democratic chances in the House at risk if he remained in the race. Pelosi, meanwhile, told Biden the polling data shows he can‚Äôt defeat Trump and that he‚Äôll destroy Democrats‚Äô chances of winning the House in November if he continues his campaign. Biden said he‚Äôd seen polling that showed otherwise. Much of the recent public polling shows that Biden narrowly trails Trump nationally, though much of the data remains within the margin of error, suggesting the race is a toss-up. When asked about the conversations, the White House responded: ‚ÄúPresident Biden is the nominee of the party. He plans to win, and looks forward to working with congressional Democrats to pass his 100 days agenda to help working families.‚ÄĚ (Politico / ABC News / New York Times / Washington Post / Associated PressAxios / CNN / Reuters / Axios / Politico / Axios / Politico / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / NBC News)

3/ Biden is reportedly ‚Äúmore receptive‚ÄĚ and ‚Äúwilling to listen‚ÄĚ to arguments about why he should step aside after a number of Democrats have pressed him to reconsider his presidential bid. One Democratic adviser said Biden has gone from saying ‚ÄúKamala can‚Äôt win,‚ÄĚ to asking ‚ÄúDo you think Kamala can win?‚ÄĚ Although Biden hasn‚Äôt given any indication that he‚Äôs changing his mind about staying in the race, several top Democrats privately said they now believe Biden will drop out ‚Äď possibly as soon as this weeke...

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