President Joe Biden has reportedly expressed doubts about his ability to win a second term in the White House after his disastrous debate against former President Donald Trump.
The New York Times published a report on Wednesday indicating that the president has privately acknowledged the possibility that he could lose in November.
President Biden has told a key ally that he knows he may not be able to salvage his candidacy if he cannot convince the public in the coming days that he is up for the job after a disastrous debate performance last week.
The president, who the ally emphasized is still deeply in the fight for re-election, understands that his next few appearances heading into the holiday weekend — including an interview scheduled for Friday with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News and campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — must go well.
“He knows if he has two more events like that, we’re in a different place” by the end of the weekend, said the ally, referring to Mr. Biden’s halting and unfocused performance in the debate. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation.
Another top Biden adviser told The Times that Biden is “well aware of the political challenge he faces.”
While the president is consulting with other Democratic elected officials, he “has told at least one person that he is open to the possibility that his plans to move on from his debate performance — and flip the focus back to his challenger, Mr. Trump — may not work,” according to The New York Times.
White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates in a post on X, denied the details of the report, referring to it as “absolutely false.”
This development comes as several polls conducted after the debate show that Biden’s candidacy has taken a major hit.
Sunday, though, that’s where the rubber meets the road. A look at the battleground state polls shows:
Pennsylvania, Trump v. Biden, Kennedy, West, and Stein, a survey by Cygnal has Trump leading by four points. In a head-to-head match, Trump is likewise four points ahead.
But here’s the real interesting one: In New Hampshire, in a survey released Sunday by St. Ansel, Trump is leading Biden by two points, 44 to 42 — not a wide margin, but revealing, as the last New Hampshire survey, in May, had Biden leading Trump by four points; another in January had Biden ahead by seven.
Sunday’s head-to-head general election polls offer no comfort, as Harvard/Harris has Trump ahead by four points, although Morning Consult has him leading by only one.
To make matters worse for the Biden campaign, Trump is now raising significantly more campaign funds than the president. This is partially due to Trump’s conviction in the Manhattan case, but it seems likely that the debate has also contributed to the flood of fundraising.
Democrats also appear to be engaging in spirited disagreements behind the scenes as they consider finding an alternative candidate to replace Biden. On a private phone call, one Democratic donor suggested that “[Vice President] Kamala Harris is more threatening to those swing voters than a dead Joe Biden or a comatose Joe Biden,” which suggests that at least some Democrats do not view her as a viable option.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) became the first Democratic elected official to publicly call for Biden to drop out of the race. It appears that at least 25 others are poised to follow suit.
If these developments are any indication, Team Biden is in for some troubling times ahead.
