In what was shaping up to be President Joe Biden’s congressional judgment day on Tuesday, House Democrats emerged in rough shape.
The vibes were so bad at the morning caucus meeting that members were reportedly left in tears over the party’s prospects. However, they did buy the beleaguered president some time.
Biden got a stay of execution and at best a free pass to keep running up through next week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, but the meeting was described by lawmakers in attendance as being full of grief.
ADVERTISEMENT
Some Democratic lawmakers were even crying, according to Axios, which quoted one member saying, “There were actual tears from people, and not for Biden.”
The divided conference isn’t even “in the same book much less on the same page over Biden’s fate” Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) told reporters as he came out of a crucial meeting at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) headquarters on Tuesday which seemed poised to play a major role in deciding his fate.
However, as Biden faces the most consequential few weeks of his political career—while also leading a NATO summit in Washington—the pendulum has begun to swing in his favor.
The party’s top congressional leaders, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), have backed Biden and helped him ward off a full-blown intervention, as The Daily Beast reported Monday.
While a number of members have still privately expressed worry over his fitness to run for re-election, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has come to his rescue, rallying around the president in a meeting he held with them on Monday night. Biden only appeared virtually, not in-person.
Still, the seasoned politician has outflanked his Democratic critics and appears to have the upper hand in the game of chicken he launched with the rest of the party.
One of the clearest case studies in how the dynamic has shifted comes in the form of longtime Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY).
Nadler, who worked the daylights off of the Zabar’s grocery store corner on the Upper West Side of Manhattan during a tough 2022 primary fight for his re-election, said Tuesday he still has concerns about Biden’s candidacy.
Despite those trepidations, he said the matter is settled and “beside the point” a week-and-a-half out from the president’s calamitous debate performance in front of at least 80 million viewers.
“He’s going to be our nominee,” Nadler said, according to Annie Karni of The New York Times, “and we all have to support him."
Members remained largely mum on criticism expressed during Tuesday’s meeting, which was presented by leadership as a listening session.
Still, Biden’s open critics on the Hill—the likes of Nadler aside—remain adamant the party is hurtling toward disaster if they keep this up.
“He shouldn’t leave a legacy that endangers us,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), the first sitting member to call on Biden to step aside, told reporters as he exited the meeting, “where we surrender to a tyrant.”
