Joe Biden to Hold No Public Events All Week to Explain Why He Stepped Aside

President Joe Biden will hold no public events all week to explain why he stepped aside, according to the White House schedule released Monday.

The lack of a public appearance will increase concerns about Biden’s health.

Many commentators believe that Biden’s lack of a public appearance to announce his decision will fuel calls for him to resign from the presidency, citing fears that he is not able to run the executive branch.

The lack of a statement made in public comes as Biden “doubted” if Harris could defeat former President Donald Trump before he decided to step aside, three Biden aides familiar with recent talks about his plans told Axios.

It appeared former President Barack Obama played a significant role behind the scenes in Biden’s decision to step aside. Obama did not question the validity of Biden’s candidacy until Wednesday in a Washington Post leak. The leak followed reports that surfaced just hours before former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Democrat Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told the president to step aside.

WATCH — Psaki: DNC “Going to Run a Process” with “Goal” of Making VP Harris Look Strong:

The timing of the leak to the Post suggests an organized effort by the Democrat leaders to convince Biden to drop out after weeks of chaos within the party amid continued media scrutiny on Biden’s political viability.

“The idea here is that Obama, Pelosi, Jeffries, and Schumer do not want to be seen as back-room party bosses engineering a Harris coronation,” Playbook reported. “And if there’s a real challenge then they want to be able to unite the party again when there’s a nominee.”

Democrats appear to be coalescing around Harris, including Hillary and Bill Clinton, and the “Squad.” The top Democrats who have not backed Harris in public are Obama, Pelosi, Jeffries, and Schumer.

WATCH — Dem Rep. Smith: Biden Had “Troubling Signs” After SOTU, but We Didn’t See His Health Had Declined Until Debate:

Harris is not very popular, with a 38.6 percent approval rating, according to FiveThirtyEight. Biden’s approval rating is 38.5 percent. Both approval rating marks are well below the 50 percent threshold that an incumbent typically needs to win reelection.

Additional Democrat nominee contenders include Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC), Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL), and Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY).