(NewsNation) — A meeting next week between Democrats in the House of Representatives is expected to be tense and even “rowdy” as concerns over President Joe Biden’s fitness as a candidate loom over the 2024 election, a source tells NewsNation.
“If leadership tells members to ‘cool it’ on concerns over Biden, that won’t go over well,” a high-level aid to one moderate Democrat said.
The regularly scheduled caucus meeting set for Tuesday morning will be the first time all conference members are under one roof. It’s possible the gathering may get changed to Monday if there’s enough urgency from lawmakers to hash this out earlier.
Biden faces backlash over debate
Biden, 81, has been facing questions about his ability to lead for another four years after his performance at the first presidential debate against his predecessor, Republican Donald Trump.
During the event hosted by CNN, Biden stumbled over his words and appeared confused at times. Trump, on the other hand, made a number of false statements at the debate, with CNN saying he had more than Biden. The GOP candidate said 30 “false or misleading claims” compared to the current president’s nine, CNN wrote.
Polling coming out of the debate showed indications of Trump gaining in the aftermath, with a 0.7% lead based on 775 polls (44.0% versus 43.3%), NewsNation partner The Hill reported. According to The Hill, polling respondents in multiple surveys have mostly said Trump was the winner of the debate.
Now, several people, including Democrats, have publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race. Some prominent names have been floated to become the new Democratic nominee including Vice President Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. So far, though, they’ve largely thrown their support behind Biden and pushed back against the need to choose a different candidate.
Meanwhile, Biden and his campaign staff repeatedly maintained that they were staying in the election.
Democrats express doubts about Biden
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, on Tuesday became the first Democrat currently in Congress to say Biden needs to remove himself from the 2024 race. Former Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, another Democrat, said the same as well as Julián Castro, who served as Housing and Urban Development secretary under former President Barack Obama.
“Joe Biden is a good man and has been a good president,” Castro wrote on X. “But last week’s debate disturbingly demonstrated that he is unable to effectively prosecute the case against Donald Trump—much less inspire and mobilize voters to the polls.”
Other Democrats have suggested it may be time for Biden to go without outright saying he needs to step aside.
Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., said on Zerlina Maxwell’s podcast that with time “running out,” her party would have to move very quickly if Biden decides not to run for president.
“There’s not going to be time for a primary. That time has passed,” Lee said on “Mornings with Zerlina” Wednesday, adding that Harris is the obvious choice to replace Biden if needed. “She’s sitting right there. She’s already been in the White House and has the name recognition.”
Rep. Jared Golden, a moderate Democrat from Maine, published a column in The Bangor Daily News stating that he believes Trump is going to win the election — an outcome that has been “clear to (him) for months.” Another Democrat, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, said in an interview with KATU that the debate will cost Biden the election.
While he didn’t vote for Trump, Golden said he’s OK with the Republican’s potential victory, calling his fellow Democrats’ characterization of it as a threat to democracy “post-debate hand-wringing.”
“Unlike Biden and many others, I refuse to participate in a campaign to scare voters with the idea that Trump will end our democratic system,” Golden wrote.
Still, there are also those sticking with Biden, at least for now. South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn said on “The Hill” that he remains with the president.
“I’m going to the first team at this point,” Clyburn said. “If something were to happen with the first team, then we’ll take a look at those other people downstream. But right now, I am for Joe Biden.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
