Defiant Biden Blames ‘Elites’ for Calls to Step Down

After more than a week of interviews and campaign events attempting to counter calls to step down from his campaign, President Joe Biden is going on the offensive. 

“I’m getting so frustrated by the elites […] the elites in the party,” Biden said Monday during a phone interview with MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “Run against me. Go ahead, announce for president. Challenge me at the convention,” 

“I don’t care what those big names think,” Biden added of editorials from major publications urging him to step down. “The bottom line here is that we’re not going anywhere. I am not going anywhere.” 

In the aftermath of Biden’s blundering debate performance in late June, long-simmering concerns over the 81-year-old president’s advanced age and cognitive health have boiled over into a public debate on whether the president should remain in the race, or pass the torch to a younger, more agile candidate.  

On Monday, the president sent an open letter to Congress blasting what his campaign previously called “bedwetting” by party members, donors, lawmakers, and commentators shocked by his performance against former President Donald Trump. 

“Now that you have returned from the July 4th recess, I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump,” Biden wrote. “I feel a deep obligation to the faith and the trust the voters of the Democratic Party have placed in me to run this year. It was their decision to make. Not the press, not the pundits, not the big donors, not any selected group of individuals, no matter how well intentioned. The voters — and the voters alone — decide the nominee of the Democratic Party.” 

“The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end. We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump. We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the general election. Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump,” he concluded. 

But the train may have already left the station. Congress spent the last week out of session for the July 4 recess, and their return to the Capitol will likely mean more face-to-face discussions about the president’s future. As of Sunday night, five Democratic lawmakers have publicly called for Biden to end his bid for the presidency: Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Raúl Grijalva (D-Az.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and Mike Quigley (D-Ill.).

According to sources who spoke to CNN, on a Sunday call with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, several more Democratic House members expressed their desire for Biden to drop from the race despite having not yet taken a public stance on the matter. Those calling for the president’s exit included prominent senior Democratic Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), and Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.).  “It was pretty brutal,” a senior Democratic aide told CNN. 

In the Senate, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) was reportedly attempting to form a coalition of Democratic senators who would openly call for the president to step aside and hand the campaign over to a younger candidate. According to Politico, Warner has pushed a planned meeting with lawmakers to Tuesday’s caucus luncheon. 

On Friday, Biden sat down for a highly anticipated interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, his first since the debate. The president appeared frustrated with questions about his mental acuity and future as a candidate throughout the 20-minute interview. 

“If the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race,” he said. “The Lord Almighty’s not coming down.”

When asked how he would feel if he stayed in this race, and ultimately lost to Trump, Biden responded that as long as he feels he gave it his “all” and did “as good a job as I know I can do,” that’s what this is about.” 

It’s not what this is about, though, and Democrats are becoming increasingly frustrated with the president’s apparent lack of self-reflection. “One interview is not going to change the perception — we need more than 22 minutes — people have got to know he has the stamina to do the job and right now there are still concerns,” one anonymous Democratic Rep. told ABC News after the interview. 

“Joe Biden is a good man, he’s an American patriot, yet the need for him to step aside is more urgent tonight than when I first called for it on Tuesday,” Rep. Doggett told CNN in response to the interview. 

On Tuesday, Washington, D.C., will play host to a high-level NATO summit commemorating the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty. The three-day event will feature 32 member countries, intense debate over the potential entry of Ukraine into the treaty, as well as meetings, press conferences, and speeches from global heads of state. But on Capitol Hill and throughout the backrooms of D.C., this week may be President Biden’s last chance to convince them of his fitness for another four years in office.