Election 2024 live updates: Biden could drop out ‘this weekend’ report says as top Democrats pile on pressure to exit race

Joe Biden said in a recent interview that he would consider dropping out of the 2024 election if he was diagnosed with a “medical condition” by a doctor.

During an interview taped for BET, Biden was asked what would have to happen for him to consider dropping out of the race.

“If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem,” Mr Biden said in an excerpt released on Wednesday.

The Washington Post reports that former president Barack Obama has told allies in recent days that the path to victory for President Joe Biden has been greatly diminished and he needs to seriously consider the viability of his candidacy.

The paper cites multiple people briefed on his thinking.

The former president has only spoken to Biden once since the June 27 debate and has otherwise been clear to others that any decision about the future of his campaign is the president’s to make. He has also pushed back on the notion that he could influence the president’s decision-making.

Nevertheless, Obama has been taking calls from anxious Democrats, including former speaker Nancy Pelosi, and has shared his views on the challenges to Biden’s run for re-election, according to people with knowledge of the calls, the Post reports.

On Wednesday, Vanity Fair published an article titled: “Where Do the Obamas Stand on Joe Biden? ‘If President Obama Was All In, He’d Be All In.’”

“The silence is deafening,” says Representative Mike Quigley, who knows the former president and who has called on Biden to bow out of the race. “If President Obama was all in, he would be all in.” The relationship between Obama and Biden is “very protected,” Quigley notes. “They keep their private life and their private conversations private. I think most people who would guess about this are speculating.” Donors are expressing worry, and, Quigley says, Democratic House members are reluctant to publicly call for Biden to exit out of respect. Plus, “People think wild thoughts: ‘If the next president’s a Democrat, will they not trust me?’ ” Obama, Quigley says, is likely “greatly concerned.” The Democratic congressman believes there are more Obama people “trying to encourage a change. But I’m not going to name names.”

Minnesota congressman and former 2023 Democratic Party presidential candidate Dean Phillips posted this quote from the musical Hamilton as rumors about the future of Joe Biden’s candidacy swirl through the party.

“It’s really incumbent on people that are around Joe Biden to step up at this point and help the president and help the man they love and do the right thing,” Scarborough said on his MSNBCmorning show Wednesday. Biden is reportedly a loyal viewer of the show.

“This is not going to end well if it continues to drag out,” he predicted.

The pressure really is mounting, as Kelly Rissman reports.

Responding to reports that Joe Biden is “receptive” to dropping out of the presidential race, and questions as to whether the campaign is preparing for a scenario in which Kamala Harris takes over the 2024 run, deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said: “Our campaign is not working through any scenarios where President Biden is not at the top of the ticket.”

The young man was pacing around the edges of the Donald Trump campaign rally, shouldering a big backpack and peering into the lens of a rangefinder toward the rooftops behind the stage where the former president would stand.

His behavior was so odd, so unlike that of the other rallygoers, that local law enforcement took notice, radioed their concerns and snapped a photo. But then he vanished.

The image was circulated by officers stationed outside the security perimeter on that hot, sunny Saturday afternoon. But the man didn’t appear again until witnesses saw him climbing up the side of a squat manufacturing building that was within 135 meters (157 yards) from the stage.

That’s where he opened fire, six minutes after Trump began speaking, in an attempt to assassinate the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

In a bombshell report by Axios, several top Democrats have privately told the outlet that “the rising pressure of party congressional leaders and close friends will persuade President Biden to decide to drop out of the presidential race, as soon as this weekend”.

Joe Biden is currently at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, self-isolating after testing positive for Covid-19 while on the campaign trail in Nevada.

Democrats tell Axios that while he is publicly dug in and maintains he will remain at the top of the ticket, privately he’s resigned to mounting pressure, bad polls, and an inability to change the public perception of his age and mental acuity.

Biden is being told by party leaders, friends, and donors, that if he stays in the race, Donald Trump could win a landslide, destroy his legacy, and any chance of the party winning congressional majorities.

An AP poll shows nearly two-thirds of Democrats want the president to withdraw from the race.

Campaign spokesperson TJ Ducklo responded to the Axios report on X, writing: “Joe Biden is his party’s nominee. He’s the President of the United States. He’s running for reelection. Baseless conjecture from anonymous sources isn’t a scoop. Tonight a convicted felon will talk about how he’ll make people’s lives worse if he gains power. Let’s focus.”

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have apparently told President Joe Biden behind closed doors that he cannot win the 2024 presidential election and should step aside – a sign that internal support for Biden may be hitting a wall.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke with Biden face-to-face on Saturday and apparently made the case that it would be best if the president dropped out of the 2024 race, according to ABC News.

Ariana Baio has the story.

Sean O’Grady says the patriotic and statesmanlike path is clear – make the right call, Mr President…