Biden Campaign Withdrawal 'Only A Matter Of Time,' Kamala Harris Likely To Step In: Insider
Some in President Joe Biden's campaign are expecting him to drop out of the 2024 presidential race in the coming days following his disastrous debate performance, a report has claimed.
A "top campaign official," who was not identified, has told some of Biden's campaign donors that "it's only a matter of time" before he withdraws, TMZ reported. Enstarz could not independently verify this information.
The official said the Democratic Party is now focusing on the goal of retaining the White House rather than solely supporting the 81-year-old president, an unnamed insider told the outlet.
A new poll conducted by The New York Times and Siena College showed that Donald Trump's lead in the race widened following their debate, with the former president (49%) now ahead of Biden (43%) by six percentage points among likely voters nationally.
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Despite the White House insisting that Biden is "staying in the race," the campaign official was not hopeful that the polls "are going to improve" anytime soon.
According to the source, in the event of a withdrawal, the official reportedly thinks the person likely to replace Biden as the party's presidential candidate is Vice President Kamala Harris.
The official noted that only Harris could seamlessly use the millions of funds raised by the Biden-Harris campaign if the president drops out.
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On Wednesday, Biden sought to reassure his campaign staff that he will be the Democratic nominee, The New York Times reported.
"No one's pushing me out," he said during a conference call. "I'm not leaving."
Harris, who joined the call, backed Biden, saying: "We will not back down. We will follow our president's lead. We will fight, and we will win."
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Biden's suitability for the presidential role has been questioned repeatedly over the past several months.
Concerns about Biden's mental fitness grew after last week's debate, where he left long pauses and struggled to string sentences together.
Unnamed allies who have spoken with the president told the Times that Biden is aware that he may have to withdraw if he does not perform well in his next appearances and show voters he's up for the job.
"He knows if he has two more events like [the debate], we're in a different place" by the end of this week, one ally said.
Biden has an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos and campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin scheduled for this week.
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