Biden campaign won't "sugarcoat" state of 2024 race but denies Biden plans exit

The Biden campaign is denying reports that President Biden could leave the 2024 presidential race, even as several more House Democrats called on him to step aside.

Mr. Biden's campaign was defiant on Friday, releasing a memo, giving several interviews and holding an all-staff call reaffirming he's still running and aiming to put the focus on "Project 2025," the conservative blueprint for a second Trump term, and on the GOP nominee's record.

"Absolutely, the president is in this race," Biden campaign chair O'Malley Dillon said in an interview with MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "You've heard him say that time and time again," she said, adding, "He is clearly, in our impression … the best person to take on Donald Trump."

"We see the path forward," she said. 

But Dan Kanninen, the Biden campaign's battleground states director, conceded in a memo Friday the campaign faces some obstacles, writing, "I will not sugarcoat the state of the race: We have our work cut out for us to win this November." 

"We also have immense opportunity and a clear path to victory if we listen to what the voters on the ground are truly paying attention to, if we focus on the issues that matter most to the electorate in the battleground states," he wrote. Kanninen said that while voters contacted by the campaign "consistently mention" Mr. Biden's age, they're still planning to back the president. 

CBS News reported Thursday that two senior House Democrats believe that Mr. Biden could leave the 2024 presidential race in three to five days, after a pressure campaign from top lawmakers in his own party, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has also spoken to the president and her views are close to those of Jeffries and Schumer.

At the same time, polling released the same day by CBS News showed that as former President Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination Thursday night, he held the largest national lead over Mr. Biden in the campaign so far, attracting 52% support, compared to the president's 47%. He increased his lead over Mr. Biden by 1 point in the battleground states, 51% to 48%.

Dillon said on an all staff campaign call Friday with former Biden Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, "When you give me polls, I'm going to give you direct voter contact."

"The people that the president is hearing from are saying 'stay in this race and keep going and keep fighting, and we need you.' Those voices will never be as loud as the people on TV, but remember that the people in our country are not watching cable news," Dillon said on the call, according to a source familiar with the call.

The president is taking calls and listening to the case against him from allies, which was not as much the case in the aftermath of his disastrous debate with Trump last month. Biden ally and Delaware Sen. Chris Coons said at an Aspen Institute event this week, "I am confident he is hearing what he needs to hear from colleagues from the public, from folks." Coons also said, "I think our president is weighing what he should weigh, which is who is the best candidate to win in November and to carry forward the Democratic Party's values and priorities in this campaign."

The New York Times quoted an ally of Pelosi's who said the former speaker told Mr. Biden on a call that she'd seen polling that suggested he couldn't win. The president claimed he had polls that showed otherwise.  

"Put Donilon on the phone," Pelosi reportedly said. "Show me what polls."

In an interview with "CBS Mornings" on Friday, deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks, too, said it's "not true" that Mr. Biden is withdrawing his candidacy this weekend. The campaign "is continuing to implement a strategy to win with him at the top of the ticket," he added.

"All the calls and anxiety come from a place of wanting to defeat Donald Trump," Fulks said. 

"We're not trying to discount anything. President Biden is 81 years-old … but again, I don't think that's where many American voters are putting their faith in how they're going to vote," Fulks added.

There was some good news for Mr. Biden Friday, with the endorsement of BOLD PAC, the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

BOLD PAC Chairwoman Linda Sánchez praised the Biden administration in a statement for its "unwavering commitment to Latinos," and said another Trump term "would be disastrous to the Latino community."

"Latinos nationwide will bear the brunt of the consequences of a second Trump presidency," she said. Sánchez predicted that Latino voters would be pivotal in races in California, New Mexico, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Nebraska.

The president is continuing to suffer mild COVID symptoms and is recuperating in Rehoboth, but in a statement responding to Trump's convention speech Thursday night, Mr. Biden said, "I look forward to getting back on the campaign trail next week to continue exposing the threat of Donald Trump's Project 2025 agenda while making the case for my own record and the vision that I have for America: one where we save our democracy, protect our rights and freedoms, and create opportunity for everyone."

O'Malley Dillon said delegates at the DNC plan to move forward with their early virtual nomination plans, "and they're staying with the president." The DNC is expected to formalize his nomination in a virtual roll call vote in August, before the convention takes place in Chicago later that month.

In:
• Joe Biden
• Nancy Pelosi
• Donald Trump

Aaron Navarro

Aaron Navarro is a CBS News digital reporter covering the 2024 elections. He was previously an associate producer for the CBS News political unit in the 2021 and 2022 election cycles.

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