More and more Democrats are expressing doubts about Biden’s re-election candidacy in 2024

A growing number of Democrats on Tuesday expressed doubts about President Joe Biden’s re-election in 2024, clearly distancing themselves from his support after last week’s shaky debate performance.

Whether Biden continues his candidacy for the presidency in 2024 after his sluggish performance in the debate against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is largely his decision, Democrats and political strategists said.

But Biden is under pressure. Some donors have called for his resignation, and other Democrats are openly concerned that he does not have the resources to beat Trump in November.

According to a House Democratic aide, 25 Democratic members of the House are preparing to call on Biden to resign if he appears shaky in the coming days.

A second House Democratic aide said moderate Democrats in contested districts – often referred to as “frontliners” – were being bombarded with questions in their districts this week.

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted after the debate, one in three Democrats believes Biden should give up his re-election campaign.

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett on Tuesday became the first Democrat in Congress to call on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race. In an interview with NBC News, he said he hoped other Democratic lawmakers would follow his example.

“It looks like the dam has broken,” said the second consultant.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi highlighted Biden’s numerous legislative accomplishments in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday, but said it was legitimate to ask whether his debate performance was a flash in the pan or a broader health issue. She said Trump needs to receive the same attention.

“I think it’s a fair question to say, ‘Is this an incident or is this a condition?’ And if people are asking that question, it’s a fair question, and it’s with both candidates,” Pelosi said.

Immediately after the debate, Pelosi signaled strong support. “Joe Biden’s decision to move on is a decision we will all applaud because of the record he has and the accomplishments that will come with it,” she said at the time.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that Biden did not have a “seizure,” but just a bad night.

Vice President Kamala Harris said in an interview with CBS News about Doggett’s demand: “Look, Joe Biden is our candidate. We beat Trump once and we will beat him. Period.”

Biden, who spoke without a teleprompter at a campaign rally in Virginia on Tuesday night, attributed his appearance to lack of sleep and said his campaign had raised $38 million since the debate.

“The fact is, I wasn’t very smart. I decided to go around the world a couple of times and travel through about 100 time zones … before … the debate. I didn’t listen to my staff and I came back and almost fell asleep on the stage,” he said. “That’s not an excuse, but it’s an explanation.”

Some Democrats said Biden should think about the future of the party as a whole.

“He has to be honest with himself,” moderate Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois told CNN on Tuesday. “It’s his decision. I just want him to realize at this point how much this impacts not only his campaign, but all the other elections in November.”

Democrat Jim Clyburn, a U.S. congressman often credited with helping Biden win the 2020 presidential nomination, told MSNBC on Tuesday that he would support Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate if Biden steps down.

Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine, predicted Tuesday that Trump would win the election, as did Washington state Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

Biden seeks to strengthen support

The president and his campaign are scrambling to shore up support. Biden will hold a virtual and in-person meeting with Democratic governors at the White House on Wednesday and speak with lawmakers this week, White House officials said.

One of the Democratic staffers in the House of Representatives said members were disappointed with the lack of public relations work so far.

Doggett told NBC News that he had asked the White House to speak personally with Biden about his call for an exit, but had not heard back from him.

Biden’s campaign held difficult phone calls on Sunday and Monday with key donors who questioned his plans to stay in the race.

When asked on Tuesday why Biden did not give more media interviews or press conferences after his debate raised questions, Jean-Pierre pointed to his visit to a Waffle House in Atlanta on the night of the debate and subsequent conversations with his supporters.

Biden is scheduled to give an interview with ABC this week and hold a press conference at the NATO summit next week. The Democratic Hill aide said a lot depends on the ABC interview. Lawmakers want to see that Biden can handle rapid-fire questions and not just stage campaign appearances.

Meanwhile, Biden’s campaign said it and its Democratic allies raised $264 million in the second quarter, including $127 million in June and a record amount in grassroots donations on the day of Biden’s debate.