Biden slams Democratic Party ‘elites’ in MSNBC interview

In the aftermath of Biden’s awkward performance in the late June debate, long-standing concerns about the 81-year-old president’s advanced age and cognitive health have boiled over into a public debate over whether the president should stay in the race or pass the torch to a younger, more agile candidate.

On Monday, the president sent an open letter to Congress denouncing what his campaign had previously called “bedwetting” by party members, donors, lawmakers and commentators shocked by his performance against former President Donald Trump.

“Now that you are back from the July 4th vacation, I want you to know that despite all the

speculations in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly determined to stay in this race, to run

“I want to fight this race to the end and beat Donald Trump,” Biden wrote. “I feel a deep obligation to the faith and trust that Democratic Party voters placed in me to run this year. This was their decision. Not the press, not the pundits, not the big donors, not a select group of individuals, no matter how well-intentioned. The voters – and they alone – decide who the Democratic Party nominee will be.”

“The question of how to move forward has been debated for over a week. It is time for that to stop. We have a job to do. That is to defeat Donald Trump. We have 42 days until the Democratic convention and 119 days until the general election. Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the job at hand only helps Trump and hurts us. It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump,” he concluded.

But the train may have already left the station. Congress spent the last week out of session for the July 4 holiday, and its return to the Capitol will likely mean more face-to-face discussions about the president’s future. On Sunday night, five Democratic lawmakers publicly called on Biden to end his presidential bid: Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and Mike Quigley (D-Illinois).

According to sources who spoke to CNN, in a call Sunday with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, several other Democratic members of the House expressed their desire to see Biden withdraw from the race, though they have yet to take a public position on the issue. Among those calling for the president to step down were prominent Democratic Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.). “It was pretty brutal,” a senior Democratic aide told CNN.

In the Senate, Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) reportedly tried to form a coalition of Democratic senators who would openly call on the president to step down and hand the campaign over to a younger candidate. Policy, Warner postponed a scheduled meeting with lawmakers at Tuesday’s caucus lunch.

On Friday, Biden gave a highly anticipated interview to ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, his first since the debate. The president appeared frustrated by questions about his mental acuity and future as a candidate throughout the 20-minute interview.

“If the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I would get out of the race,” he said. “The Lord Almighty is not coming down.”

Asked how he would feel if he remained in the race and ultimately lost to Trump, Biden said that as long as he felt he had “given it my all” and done “as well as I know I can do,” that’s what it was about.

But that’s not what this is about, and Democrats are increasingly frustrated by the president’s apparent lack of introspection. “One interview isn’t going to change the perception — we need more than 22 minutes — people need to know that he has the stamina to do the job and right now there are still concerns,” an unnamed Democratic representative told ABC News after the interview.

“Joe Biden is a good man, he’s an American patriot, but the need for him to step down is more urgent tonight than when I first called for it on Tuesday,” Rep. Doggett told CNN in response to the interview.

On Tuesday, Washington will host a high-level NATO summit commemorating the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty. The three-day event will bring together 32 member countries, feature intense debate over Ukraine’s potential entry into the treaty, and feature meetings, news conferences, and speeches from world leaders. But on Capitol Hill and behind the scenes in Washington, this week may be President Biden’s last chance to convince them that he can stay in power for another four years.