The dire assessments of President Joe Biden‘s political prospects aren’t just coming from rival camps, but from within his own cabinet, where people he brought inside have been discussing whether staff members need to intercede.
There have been ‘private discussions’ among unnamed cabinet members about ‘whether it’s now time’ for those advisors closest to Biden to speak about the bad chances he is facing about keeping the White House, Bloomberg News reported.
The members of Biden’s team weren’t themselves seeking to push him over the side. Rather, they appeared to be engaging in some of the same conversations that party insiders and party faithful have been having around the country: whether Biden post-debate no longer has the capacity to persuade enough of the public that he can win a second term, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the matter.Â
Rather than taking action themselves, they hoped other key members of Biden’s tight inner circle including family and staff would ‘level’ with the president about his standing.Â
The new area of concern for Biden comes as yet another high-profile figure, Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, a Democrat facing a tough reelection, called for Biden to go.
Members of President Joe Biden’s cabinet have been having private conversations about whether ‘it’s now time’ for key advisors to intervene about his declining political prospects
That came after a House Democrat told DailyMail.com that the message from top party figures about Biden’s political peril is getting through to the president.Â
‘Montanans have put their trust in me to do what is right, and it is a responsibility I take seriously. I have worked with President Biden when it has made Montana stronger, and I’ve never been afraid to stand up to him when he is wrong,’ said Tester, the Daily Montanan reported.
‘And while I appreciate his commitment to public service and our country, I believe President Biden should not seek re-election to another term.’
Democrats have been galvanized by former President Donald Trump’s poll standing and a bump since an attempt on his life
The last time the matter of Biden’s cabinet surfaced since his debate disaster was when press reports noted he hadn’t even convened his full cabinet since October 2023 and were highly scripted when they did happen.
‘The President is his party’s nominee, having won 14 million votes during the Democratic primary. He’s running for reelection, and that will not change until he wins reelection,’ said TJ Ducklo, Biden-Harris 2024 Senior Advisor for Communications.
Still another shoe dropped Thursday with the leak of a four-page letter to Biden penned by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), another prominent Democrat, that compared him to aging Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro MartÃnez being left on the mound too long during the 2003 American League Championship Series against the rival New York Yankees.
Also Thursday, Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) said it was time for Biden to ‘pass the torch’ despite being ‘an incredible President’ for the ‘good of the country.’Â
There has been an accumulation of comments from Democratic officials that should Biden step back, the party is likely to rally around Vice President Kamala Harris, despite her own difficulty building strong public approval ratings.Â