Biden urges unity as exit calls persist | Arkansas Democrat Gazette (2024)

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- President Joe Biden urged his supporters to stay unified during a series of stops in critical Pennsylvania on Sunday, even as some leading congressional Democrats privately suggested it was time for him to abandon his reelection bid because of intensifying questions about whether he's fit for another term.

Addressing a rousing church service in front of stained glass windows bathed in sunshine at Philadelphia's Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, the 81-year-old Biden joked, "I know I look 40" but "I've been doing this a long time."

"I, honest to God, have never been more optimistic about America's future if we stick together," he said.

There and during a subsequent rally with union members in Harrisburg, Biden offered short speeches that touched on familiar topics. But he also left plenty of room for key backers to discuss standing by him. In that way, the Pennsylvania swing seemed meant to showcase support for the president from key political quarters more than proving he's up to four more years.

His party, though, remains deeply divided.

As Congress prepares to resume this week, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries convened top committee lawmakers Sunday afternoon to assess their views. Several Democratic committee leaders said Biden should step aside, according to two people familiar with the meeting and granted anonymity to discuss it.

Reps. Jerrold Nadler of New York, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee; Adam Smith of Washington, the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee; Mark Takano of California, the ranking member of the Veterans Affairs panel; and Joseph Morelle of New York, the top Democrat on the Administration Committee, all said Biden should withdraw, according to three people briefed on the session who insisted on anonymity to discuss a confidential virtual meeting on a sensitive topic.

A fifth Democrat, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, also expressed uncertainty about Biden's path forward, one of the people said.

Other top Democrats, including members of the influential Congressional Black Caucus, argued just as forcefully that Biden remain the party's choice. The conversation was wide ranging, with the committee leaders sharing various views on the situation, but there was no unanimity on what should be done, the people said.

Biden was personally calling lawmakers through the weekend. He also joined a call with campaign surrogates and reiterated that he has no plans to leave the race. Instead, the president pledged to campaign harder going forward and to step up his political travel, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

One Democrat the president spoke to, Sen. Alex Padilla of California, said he and others are pushing the Biden campaign to "let Joe be Joe, get him out there."

"I absolutely believe we can turn it around," Padilla told The Associated Press.

But at least five other Democratic lawmakers have publicly called on Biden to abandon his reelection campaign ahead of November. Meeting this week in person means more chances for lawmakers to discuss concerns about Biden's ability to withstand the remaining four months of the campaign -- not to mention four more years in the White House -- and true prospects of beating Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

Biden's campaign team was also calling and texting lawmakers to try to head off more potential defections, while increasingly asking high-profile Biden supporters to speak out on his behalf.

Calls to bow out nonetheless popped up from different directions.

Alan Clendenin, a member of the Tampa City Council and of the Democratic National Committee, on Sunday called for Biden to "step aside and allow Vice President Kamala Harris to carry forward his agenda as our Democratic nominee." Director Rob Reiner, who has helped organize glitzy Hollywood fundraisers for Biden in the past, posted on social media platform X, "It's time for Joe Biden to step down."

The Democratic convention is fast approaching and Biden's Friday interview with ABC has not convinced some who remain skeptical.

Democratic fundraising bundler Barry Goodman, a Michigan attorney, said he's backing Biden but, should he step aside, he'd throw his support to Harris. That's notable since Goodman was also a finance co-chairman for both of the statewide campaigns of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has also been mentioned as a top-of-the-ticket alternative.

"We don't have much time," Goodman said. "I don't think the president gets out. But if he does, I think it would be Kamala."

After the church service, Biden visited a campaign office in Philadelphia, where Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who won a tough 2022 race while recovering from a stroke, offered a forceful endorsem*nt.

"There is only one guy that has ever beaten Trump," Fetterman said. "And he is going to do it twice and put him down for good."

Still, others aren't fully convinced.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told CNN that Biden "needs to answer those questions that voters have" while adding, "If he does that this week, I think he will be in a very good position."

REPUBLICANS WEIGH IN

Meanwhile, House Republicans on Sunday demanded that Biden's personal physician explain whether he can provide "accurate and independent" assessments, citing his reported refusal to order a cognitive test for the president.

The House Oversight Committee "is investigating circ*mstances surrounding your assessment in February of this year that 'President Biden is a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old-male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency,'" Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who chairs the committee, wrote in a letter on Sunday to Kevin O'Connor, the physician to the president.

In the letter, Comer cited the president's halting performance in last month's debate with Trump as well as other reports of Biden's recent mental lapses, such as claims that the president is sometimes confused or listless in private meetings.

Noting that O'Connor has declined interview requests from the media, Comer also asked him to sit for a transcribed interview with the Oversight Committee.

"The Committee now turns to you to provide answers regarding your independence because of the mixed and confused messaging coming from the White House regarding the President's ability to perform his job," Comer wrote.

The White House, which has dismissed Biden's debate performance as an outlier and said that he remains alert and high-energy in private settings, did not immediately respond to question about whether O'Connor would testify. The GOP-led committee has previously turned to subpoenas when individuals have declined to comply with its requests to testify.

O'Connor, a retired Army colonel and a current member of the White House medical unit, has served as Biden's personal physician since 2009. In his February assessment of Biden, the doctor of osteopathic medicine wrote that the president received "an extremely detailed neurological exam" that was "reassuring," with no findings consistent with a disorder such as Parkinson's disease.

Some of O'Connor's medical colleagues have questioned his decision not to order a cognitive test for the president.

Information for this article was contributed by Colleen Long, Will Weissert, Marc Levy, Lisa Mascaro, Zeke Miller, Michelle Price, Meg Kinnard and Bill Barrow of The Associated Press; by Luke Broadwater and Robert Jimison of The New York Times; and by Dan Diamond and Michael Kranish of The Washington Post.