Report: Democrats to Huddle About Joe Biden’s Vow to Stay in Race

Democrat lawmakers are scheduled to hold a potentially contentious meeting on Tuesday about President Joe Biden’s continued candidacy for president.

Biden vowed to stay in the race on Monday despite reported calls from nine Democrat lawmakers for him to drop out.

“I’m getting so frustrated by the elites … the elites in the party,” Biden told MSNBC Monday morning. “All the data, all the data shows that the average Democrat out there voted, and 14 million of them had voted for me. Still want me to be the nominee.”

“We need to move forward. Look, we have roughly 40 days til the convention, 120 days til the election. We can’t waste any more time being distracted,” Biden told donors Monday, according to a recording that Politico obtained.

Tuesday’s meeting, which was going to be held at the Capitol Building, will now be held at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters to reduce leaks during the potentially heated discussion, Axios reported.

“Cell phones will not be permitted. Secure cell phone storage for Members will be provided on site,” an advisory to House Democrats told the outlet.

The Biden campaign has sustained several damaging leaks regarding post-debate concerns about the president’s political viability.

“Tensions are high,” one senior House Democrat told Axios.

The meeting comes as several members of Congress demand Biden not run for reelection. Biden is losing in key swing state surveys, post-debate polling shows. Forty-one percent of Democrat voters want Biden to drop out of the race, while only 51 percent want him to remain on the ticket, a Suffolk University poll found.

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Courtesy of CNN Presidential Debate

Reps. Jerry Nadler (NY), Mark Takano (CA), Don Beyer (VA), and Adam Smith (WA) were the latest Democrats to call for Biden to quit the race, according to several media reports Sunday.

Those members joined five Democrat lawmakers who previously called for Biden to withdraw from the presidential race: Reps. Lloyd Doggett (TX), Seth Moulton (MA), Raúl Grijalva (AZ), Angie Craig (MN) and Mike Quigley (IL).

Leaders of the Democrat Party do not support the rash of opposition to Biden. House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries (NY) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) still appear to support Biden.

Political experts suggest that Democrats might be stuck with Biden for three reasons: the challenge of replacing him on 50 state ballots, the challenge of moving money behind a new candidate, and the challenge of finding a candidate who would likely be a sacrificial lamb to run in his place.