'The Cold, Hard Reality Is...': Biden Returns To Campaign Trail Amid Calls From Donors For Him To Step Down

Even as US President Joe Biden heads back out on the campaign trail on Sunday, calls continue for him to step aside and allow someone else the chance to run, more than a week after his lackluster debate performance in Atlanta.

The 81-year-old Democrat has not convinced all Democrats, including lawmakers and donors, that he is fit to take on Donald Trump and serve another four years. Netflix’s co-founder Reed Hastings called on Biden to step aside. “Biden is unfortunately in denial about his mental state,” he said in a statement to ABC News. “He needs to step aside to let a vigorous Democratic leader beat Trump.”

‘Cold, Hard Reality’

Former Paypal CEO Bill Harris told the outlet that Biden “seemed old” in the interview and he thinks it may turn off voters who are skeptical of Biden’s abilities. He donated $620,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020 but believes the idea of Biden stepping aside in this race is “inevitable.”

Another major investor Whitney Tilson told ABC News that “even the wealthiest people have limitations to money” and he wants to hold his donation to support the candidates that “throw their hat in the ring.” In a post on X, Tilson said, “The cold, hard reality is that if we stick with Biden, it’s ~80% likely he loses, probably badly, and takes down-ballot Democrats with him, handing the House and Senate to Republicans as well.”

Calls for Biden to step down came as he heads back out on the campaign trail Sunday, in a bid to salvage his re-election bid as senior Democrats meet to discuss growing calls that he quit the White House race. He kicks off a grueling week with two campaign rallies in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, before hosting the NATO leaders’ summit in Washington.

He will do so under an increasingly unforgiving spotlight, as pressure mounts for him to drop out after his disastrous debate against Donald Trump last month ignited panic over his age and fitness to serve another four years. Biden has remained defiant, unequivocally declaring — at a rally, to reporters and on social media — that he is fit to serve, the only one who can defeat Trump, and staying in the race.

‘I beat Trump in 2020’

“I beat Trump in 2020. I’m going to beat him again in 2024,” his campaign social media account posted Saturday. But a televised interview with ABC News on Friday has failed to quell concerns. His next major test in the public eye will be a press conference scheduled for Thursday, during the NATO summit.

As many as five Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to drop out, with the drumbeat of dissent slowly rising. The House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, has scheduled a virtual meeting of senior Democrat representatives for Sunday to discuss the best way forward, and Democrat Senator Mark Warner is reportedly working to convene a similar forum in the upper chamber. Democrat heavyweights are largely keeping a lid on any simmering discontent with their leader. Meanwhile, for Biden and his campaign team, the strategy seems to be to ride it out.

First Lady Jill Biden, who — according to some reports — is urging her husband to stay in the race, is scheduled to campaign in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina on Monday.  The campaign has unveiled an intense battle plan for July, including an avalanche of TV spots and trips to all the key states. That includes a visit to the southwest of the country during the Republican convention from July 15-18, at which Trump is set to be anointed the party’s official presidential nominee.

In an interview with ABC News on Friday, Biden dismissed the falling poll numbers and concerns over his mental and physical fitness triggered by his dismal June 27 performance against Trump. He blamed a severe cold for the debate debacle and insisted it was just a “bad night” rather than evidence of increasing frailty and cognitive decline.

Some of his answers were tentative, meandering and difficult to follow, even as he sought to deflect questions about his mental acuity and dismissed the notion that his party would consider replacing him. “If the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race,” he said. “But the Lord Almighty is not coming down.”

(With agency inputs)