The Biden campaign is scrambling to maintain morale among organizers and campaign officials as the president faces increasing pressure to withdraw from the 2024 race.
Campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon reportedly convened with staffers during a call on Friday, telling them not to “watch cable news all the time,” according to Axios, which obtained a recording of the call.
“I talked to him this morning—he sounds like shit because he’s not feeling that well,” O’Malley Dillon said during the call, while claiming that Biden is “in this race.” She added: “He is doing the work, and he is focused on what you guys are doing.”
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O’Malley Dillon, attempting to rally Biden’s troops, continued, “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. They just aren’t.”
Marty Walsh, former Biden Labor Secretary, followed O’Malley Dillon on the call, Axios reported, telling staffers, “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s up to you.”
“It is up to us to say: ‘OK, wait a second. Screw it! We’re gonna go deeper. We’re gonna move harder. The people of America want to vote for us,’” Walsh added.
O’Malley Dillon told MSNBC’s Morning Joe program during a Friday morning appearance that Biden would be the nominee.
The new report comes as Biden’s closest family members and colleagues are urging the president to exit the race.
Four senators, more than 30 members of the house and a litany of strategists, pundits and donors have been beating the drum to get Biden to drop out.
Most notably, on Friday Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), Biden’s successor in the Senate, told the Aspen Security Forum that Biden was “weighing” who would be the best fit to beat Trump in November.
“I am confident he is hearing what he needs to hear from colleagues, from the public, from folks,” Coons said.
Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) have also called for Biden to step down.
In the House, Reps. Marc Veasey (D-TX), was the first of the Congressional Black Caucus to break ranks with his otherwise staunchly pro-Biden caucus on Friday, calling on the president to drop out.
“We must face the reality that widespread public concerns about your age and fitness are jeopardizing what should be a winning campaign,” read a letter that Veasey and his colleagues, Reps. Jesús Garcia (D-IL), Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Jared Huffman (D-CA) jointly signed and released on Friday.
The Biden family is even joining the call, with Hunter, Jill and Joe Biden’s sister Valerie Owens reportedly discussing ways in which they could get Joe to go, according to NBC.
“That is not happening, period. The individuals making those claims are not speaking for his family or his team—and they will be proven wrong. Keep the faith,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates fired back at NBC’s reporting. “President Biden is the nominee of the party. He plans to win and looks forward to working with congressional Democrats to pass his 100 days agenda to help working families,” Bates told CNN.
Biden has previously made the claim that only “God Almighty” could convince him to drop out. Last week, he told reporters that if the polls said, “There’s no way you can win,” he would drop out, adding that “no poll says that.” He said earlier this week he would drop out if doctors told him he had a “medical condition.” He subsequently announced a positive COVID-19 diagnosis and is now self-isolating. His doctor said Thursday that Biden was experiencing “mild” symptoms and “his vital signs remain normal.”
The president issued a statement Friday that suggested Biden has no intention of dropping out.
“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,” the president said.
