US President Joe Biden’s inner circle and campaign are adamant that he is just as committed as ever to the November election, but the President has become more receptive to hearing out calls for him to exit the race, a senior administration official told ABC News on Thursday.
Biden has also asked for polling on how Vice President Kamala Harris would do, according to the official, but there is no indication that Biden is changing his mind and intending to withdraw from the race.
The official noted that the President is wiped and exhausted, but the COVID-19 diagnosis gives him a chance to bring people together, have conversations and think while he recovers in Delaware.
Biden has faced calls to withdraw from the presidential race following his poor showing at the recent debate against former President Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, Rep. Adam Schiff became the most prominent elected Democrat to publicly call on President Joe Biden to drop out of the race.
“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch. And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election,” Schiff said in a statement quoted by CNN.
Schiff praised Biden’s legacy but added, “Our nation is at a crossroads. A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November.”
Previously, Schiff would only go so far as to say Biden “should take a moment to make the best-informed judgment” about the future of his campaign.
His statement was published parallel to an ABC News report which said that Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told Biden in a meeting on Saturday it would be better for the country and the Democratic Party if he ended his reelection campaign.
Schumer met Biden in Delaware, according to the report. Following the meeting, Schumer only described it as a "good meeting."
Biden has thus far resisted the calls to withdraw. Asked in an interview on Wednesday what would convince him to drop out of the race, the President replied, “If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem."
“I said I was going to be a transitional candidate, and I thought I would be able to move on from this and pass it on to somebody else,” he said, explaining why he feels he must run again. “But I didn’t anticipate things getting so, so, so divided. And quite frankly, I think the only thing age brings is a little bit of wisdom.”