PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The president Joe Biden urged his supporters to stay united at a rousing black church service in critical Pennsylvania on Sunday, even as his campaign quietly braced for growing pressure on him to drop his re-election bid amid questions that intensify as to whether he is fit to run for re-election.
Speaking from a stage filled with sunlight streaming through the stained-glass windows of Mount Airy Church of God in Christ in northwest Philadelphia, Biden, 81, laughed off concerns about his age, joking, “I know I look 40,” but “I’ve been doing this a long time.”
“I’m really, really optimistic about the future of America if we stand together,” Biden said, speaking from a prepared text but without using a teleprompter.
As Congress prepares to resume its session this week, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries convened the committee’s top lawmakers Sunday afternoon to gauge their views.
Several Democratic committee leaders spoke out in the afternoon to say Biden should step down, according to two people familiar with the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss it.
But several other prominent Democrats, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus, have argued equally strongly that Biden remains the party’s choice.
The conversation was wide-ranging, with committee leaders sharing diverse views on the situation, but there was no unanimity on what should be done, the people said.
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As more Democratic lawmakers are expected to voice concerns about Biden’s withdrawal, others are stepping up efforts to support the president and refocus attention on Republican Donald Trump and the danger they say he poses to the country and democracy.
Biden himself has been calling elected officials throughout the weekend. On Saturday, he participated in a call with representatives of his campaign and reiterated that he has no intention of leaving the race, despite an increasingly precarious political situation.
Instead, the president has pledged to campaign more intensively in the future and step up his political travel, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California, with whom the president spoke, said he and others are pushing for the Biden campaign to “let Joe be Joe, let him be known.” Padilla told AP, “I absolutely believe we can turn this around.”
At least five Democratic lawmakers have publicly asked him to abandon his re-election campaign ahead of November. As Congress reconvenes, the in-person meetings provide more opportunities to discuss concerns about Biden’s ability to weather the remaining four months of the campaign — let alone four more years in the White House — and the real prospects of beating the presumptive Republican nominee. Asset.
The Biden campaign is calling and texting lawmakers to try to head off more potential defections. It is also asking Biden’s most prominent supporters to speak out, hoping to bring back into line those who still have concerns.
Calls for abandonment have come from different directions.
Alan Clendenin, a Tampa city councilman and Democratic National Committee member, said Sunday: “I believe it is in the best interest of our country and the world for President Joe Biden to step aside and allow Vice President Kamala Harris to carry out her agenda as the Democratic nominee.”
And director Rob Reiner, who has helped organize glitzy Hollywood fundraisers for Biden in the past, posted on X: “It’s time for Joe Biden to resign.”
With the Democratic convention fast approaching approachingThe short term is especially critical. Those who believe Biden is no longer up to the task are imploring Democrats to replace him at the top of the ticket before it’s too late, they say.
Biden Friday interview with ABC has not convinced some who remain skeptical. That’s despite a boost this weekend from other key Democrats who had raised questions before but now have moved to support Bidenled by House Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi and Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina.
Barry Goodman, a Michigan attorney and Democratic fundraiser, said Sunday that he still supports Biden but that if he steps down, he would support Harris. That’s notable since Goodman was also the co-finance chair for both of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s national campaigns, who has also been mentioned as a leading alternative.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” Goodman said. “I don’t think the president can get out. But if he does, I think it’s going to be Kamala.”
Biden, however, found an overwhelmingly friendly audience in Mount Airy, where Pastor Louis Felton compared the president to Joseph and the biblical story of his “coat of many colors.” In that story, Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers, only to be granted a high position in the pharaoh’s kingdom and have his brothers beg for help without initially acknowledging him.
“Never underestimate Joseph,” Felton implored. Then, referring to Democrats who have called on Biden to step down, he added: “That’s what’s happening, Mr. President. People are jealous of you. Jealous of your stubbornness, jealous of your favor. Jealous of the hand of God on your life.”
This happened after Biden entered to applause and shouts of “Let him know we are with him!”
“There is no election we can’t win,” Felton told the gathering. “We are together because we love our president.”
He also called Biden a “fighter” and a “winner” and led a prayer in which he said: “Our president is discouraged. But today, by your Holy Spirit, renew his mind, renew his soul, renew his body.”
The visit gave Biden a chance to energize African-American voters, who make up Democrats’ largest and most loyal bloc of support. It could also send a message to members of the Congressional Black Caucus, whose support the president will need to quell a potential rebellion at the Capitol.
After the service, Biden visited a campaign office in Philadelphia, where Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who won a tough 2022 race while recovering from a stroke, offered a forceful endorsement of the president.
“There’s only one man who’s ever beaten Trump,” Fetterman said. “And he’s going to do it twice and beat him for good.”
Biden is also scheduled to meet later with union members in Harrisburg. As he stepped off Air Force One, the president was asked about Democratic support and answered emphatically: “Yes.” He heads back to Washington, where NATO leaders will gather for a meeting. three-day summit from Tuesday on.
Despite the sentiments of people like Fetterman, others are not entirely convinced.
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told CNN that Biden “needs to answer the questions that voters are asking,” adding, “If he does that this week, I think he’ll be in a very good position and we can get back to what this campaign is about.”
Biden has refused to submit to independent cognitive testing, arguing that the daily rigors of the presidency are sufficient proof of his mental acuity. Still, California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff told NBC on Sunday that he would be “happy if the president and Donald Trump both took a cognitive test.”
As some Democrats have done, Schiff also seized on Biden’s remark during the ABC interview that losing to Trump would be acceptable “as long as I give it everything I’ve got.”
“It’s not just a question of whether he did his best in college,” Schiff said, “but rather whether he made the right decision to run or pass the torch.”
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Weissert and Mascaro reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Zeke Miller in Washington, Michelle Price in New York, Meg Kinnard in Chapin, South Carolina, and Bill Barrow in New Orleans contributed to this report.
