In order for a new name to appear on the Democratic presidential ticket, longtime aides and advisers to President Joe Biden need to persuade him on three core points, according to the New York Times.
Since his poor debate performance on June 27, Biden has dropped in the polls, with the latest aggregate polling from FiveThirtyEight showing Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, leading Biden by 2.1 percentage points. However, Biden has repeatedly maintained that he can win the election and is fit for presidency.
His debate performance received widespread criticism among party members, which has increased pressure on the incumbent to drop out of the 2024 presidential race. Several congressional Democrats, including Democratic Senator Peter Welch, are urging him to step aside and allow a different candidate to take the party's nomination.
Now the Times is reporting that advisers are trying to determine a path to convincing Biden to set aside.
"They said they have to make the case to the president, who remains convinced of the strength of his campaign, that he cannot win against former President Donald J. Trump. They have to persuade him to believe that another candidate, like Vice President Kamala Harris, could beat Mr. Trump. And they have to assure Mr. Biden that, should he step aside, the process to choose another candidate would be orderly and not devolve into chaos in the Democratic Party," the Times reported citing three sources.
The first, and potentially most challenging, according to sources, is to argue that Biden cannot beat former President Donald Trump. The two candidates previously faced off in the 2020 election, with Biden winning. However, according to polling, the prospects may not be as favorable to Biden this cycle.
A new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll released on Thursday revealed that 67 percent of respondents want him to step aside, with 30 percent believing he should continue with the campaign and 3 percent skipping the question.
According to discussions recounted by three anonymous sources to The New York Times, the second aspect the president needs to be convinced of is that another candidate could defeat Trump. Among Democrats seeking to replace Biden, there has been no official consensus on a candidate, though Vice President Kamala Harris is often suggested.
The same ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll offers better news for Harris if she secures the Democratic nomination and appears on the ticket, showing her with a 2-percentage-point edge over Trump among registered voters.
The survey of 2,431 adults found Harris ahead of Trump 49 percent to 46 percent among all adults. Among registered voters, she held a narrower lead of 49 percent to 47 percent.
Conducted online between July 5 and 9, the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, potentially placing the candidates in a deadlock.
Lastly, sources said they would have to convince the president that if he were to drop out of the race, the selection process for a candidate would be smooth.
The White House has denied these accounts. White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told The New York Times: "Unequivocally, this is not true," adding that "President Biden's team is strongly behind him."
T.J. Ducklo, a spokesperson for the Biden campaign, reiterated the same sentiment with regard to the president's political staff, telling the outlet: "Patently false" and "This team stands with the president."
Newsweek reached out to the White House press office and Biden campaign for comment via email on Thursday afternoon.
Update, 7/11/2024 at 4:40 p.m. ET: Additional information and context was added.
About the writer
Mandy Taheri is a Newsweek reporter based in Connecticut and Brooklyn. She joined Newsweek as a reporter in 2024. She ... Read more
