Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer recently expressed concerns to President Joe Biden about leading the 2024 Democratic ticket and encouraged him to step aside, according to a new report from ABC News. The Democratic National Committee confirmed that it was delaying plans to virtually nominate Biden for a second term after Schumer privately asked fellow party leaders for more time to deliberate.
A source close to both Schumer and Biden revealed that the men discussed bleak polling numbers during their meeting at Biden’s Delaware vacation home. Internal concerns have grown among Democrats as they fear President Joe Biden could lose in a landslide to former President Donald Trump, dragging down other members of his party and possibly causing a Republican sweep of key congressional races.
Schumer trekked to Biden’s vacation home to make his views clear over the weekend after more than 20 congressional Democrats had called on the president to abandon his re-election effort. Despite calls for him to relinquish the nomination, President Joe Biden has stated that he is the nominee of the party and plans to win in 2024.
Public polling shows that a majority of Democrats would prefer for Biden to withdraw from the race, with an AP-NORC survey released Wednesday putting that number as high as 65. It’s unclear whether President Joe Biden would favor Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him if he suspends his campaign, but CNN reported on Wednesday that “private conversations” between the White House and Capitol Hill were showing that he was more “receptive” to a replacement candidate.
