News
July 19, 2024 | By Michael Lucas
Policy Issues
Accountable Government Culture

Democrats' Calls For Biden To Step Down Intensify

After Biden's debate performance, the dramatic upswing in Trump's popularity in the days following a failed assassination attempt and increasing concerns regarding Biden's cognitive health, more and more Democrats are calling for Biden to step down.

"If I Had Some Medical Condition That Emerged"

In the aftermath of the Trump-Biden debate, calls for Joe Biden to not seek the Democratic Party's nomination increased dramatically.

And now, given the surge in Donald Trump's popularity and numerous signs of further cognitive decline, many expect the Democratic Party to formally announce a halt to Biden's campaign.

As was reported by Mark Halperin of Newsmax on Thursday, Democrat insiders have alleged that Biden will announce his withdrawal from the presidential race this weekend:

According to my sources, President Biden has agreed to step down as the Democratic nominee. It [could] happen as early as this weekend, his speech has been drafted for him... He also will not, I'm told, endorse Vice President Harris as his successor...

The Newsmax report comes at a time that is incredibly fitting given other comments and announcements made by both Biden and the White House.

In a somewhat surprising interview with BET on Wednesday, for the first time Biden publicly declared the criteria that would cause him to drop out of the race. This despite previously stating he would not step down, and despite Barrack Obama having gone to X to defend Biden's debate performance.

When asked by the interviewer what would prompt him to drop out, Biden responded by saying:

If I had some medical condition that emerged--if doctors came and said, 'You've got this problem and this problem...'

Incidentally, just a few hours after Biden's BET interview was released, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, issued a statement stating that Biden had contracted COVID-19:

Earlier today following his first event in Las Vegas, President Biden tested positive for COVID-19. He is vaccinated and boosted and he is experiencing mild symptoms. He will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time. The White House will provide regular updates on the President’s status as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation.

Wisconsin Democrat Demands Biden Not Seek Nomination

On Friday afternoon, a Wisconsin Democratic state senator, Kelda Roys, representing the 26th Senate district, took to X to make this remark:

The threats to our democracy are extraordinary and call for extraordinary measures, which is why I believe President Biden should step aside and allow a new nominee to be selected.

Roys's decision parallels that of Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin U.S. House representative, who earlier today released a "Joint Message" to President Biden asking him not to seek re-election. 

The letter was co-authored by three other Democratic House representatives, but these calls for a new nominee are far from being unrepresentative.

To date, more than 34 Democrats in the U.S. Congress have made similar requests.

And given the polling dating, there is much reason to believe that Joe Biden, sooner or later, will announce that he is dropping-out of the race.

Betting Market Odds

Given the plethora of public statements from Democrat donors, politicians and voters, the betting markets--the goldstandard for predicting election results--show that neither Biden nor Harris are favored to beat Donald Trump in the general election this November.

As for who the Democratic nominee will be, they also show that since the BET interview and the White House's press release on July 17th, Harris is now favored to be the Democratic Party's nominee for POTUS.

MacIver is following these developments closely and will provide updates when appropriate.

Update: The source of the Newsmax report by Mark Halperin is suggested to be unreliable.

Also, a letter, supposedly from the DNC, is circulating suggesting that Biden will not, in fact, be replaced. MacIver will continue to update on these events in other posts.

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