Morale is plummeting among staff and Democratic officials still loyal to President Biden’s re-election campaign, CNN reported on Friday, with the fight over getting him to withdraw from the race or stay turning off many people involved.
The outlet spoke to dozens of Democratic officials, White House and Biden campaign aides, as well as other Biden allies, some of whom have characterized the feeling surrounding Biden’s re-election bid as a “doom loop.” The intra-party war over whether Biden will be replaced as presidential nominee or stay appears to have drained the resolve of those backing the president.
“There’s a growing sense that it’s game over,” one Biden aide told the outlet.
As CNN noted, these voices find that Biden’s post-debate situation has become “dark and confused.” Top Democratic leaders like Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and former President Obama are reportedly pushing to get a new party nominee or souring on Biden’s chances, while Biden and his inner circle still cling to his re-election bid.
ADAM SCHIFF CALLS ON BIDEN TO EXIT PRESIDENTIAL RACE AS DEM CONFIDENCE DWINDLES
According to CNN and Axios, Biden aides and his Democratic allies have said they feel it is inevitable he will be replaced on the 2024 ticket. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
In a response to Trump’s RNC speech Thursday night, Biden declared, “I am more determined than ever to defeat Donald Trump and his Project 2025 agenda in November.”
Despite such declarations, some of Biden’s staff anonymously told CNN they don’t see much hope.
“Even among aides in the White House and Wilmington who for long after the debate were ready to stick with him, the weight has started to feel too much,” the outlet reported.
It noted that some said they’re planning to quit, while others have already “quiet quit” and are just “going through the motions” until Biden is eventually replaced.
One person told CNN, “I don’t think you can find a person who is off the record saying he should stay in.”
The outlet stated that faith in the Biden inner circle has been “obliterated,” and that other top aides have taken to “emailing and texting to check in about how far down into despair they are day by day” rather than focus on campaign operations.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is reportedly working behind the scenes to get President Biden to step aside. (Getty Images)
Still, some of Biden’s top advisors insist the campaign is running well. Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz told the outlet, “Here in HQ, we’re working really hard because on winning campaigns, you work really hard. There’s an immense sense of pride across our office, because we know how important and critical that work we are doing here is for the fate of our democracy.”
Despite some Biden operatives’ continued optimism, Democratic lawmakers have said they’re seeing the writing on the wall with the Biden campaign.
A recent Axios piece quoted some of these individuals, with Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., telling the outlet, “A change at the top of the ticket has taken on an aura of inevitability.”
Even Biden loyalists in Congress admitted that momentum is against Biden. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., told Axios, “I don’t believe President Biden should step aside, but it appears that opinion is being overruled.”
Another pro-Biden lawmaker, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., said, “I am concerned that the tide is turning against Biden.”
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When asked about CNN’s report, a Biden campaign spokesperson pointed Fox News Digital to a quote from Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon on Friday.
“The president’s in this race,” she said on MSNBC. “You’ve heard him say that time and time again, and I think we saw on display last night exactly why, because Donald Trump is not going to offer anything new to the American people. He’s the same person he was in 2020. He’s the same person he was at the debate stage. He’s the same person he is—that is about himself and not about the American people, and Joe Biden is more committed than ever to beat Donald Trump.”