Democrats turn on Joe Biden: Can he hang in there?

By Michael Baggs (with Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel)

More Democratic Party members are calling for Joe Biden to step aside as the candidate for the 2024 election. Can the President continue?

• Joe Biden disputes his low approval rating, which was at 37% in June, attributing it to misleading polls.
• Growing internal pressure within the Democratic Party, including from figures like Michael Bennet and Nancy Pelosi, suggests Biden should reconsider running for a second term due to concerns over his electability against Trump.
• Potential Democratic replacements include Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, and Gretchen Whitmer, with speculation that a more dynamic candidate might gain crucial support from influential figures for younger voters.

Joe Biden does not believe his approval rating is correct.

That's what he said when he called into US TV show, Morning Joe (no relation), to chat with hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski about his chances in the November election.

Polling at the end of June had the president on an approval rating of just 37%, diminished, inevitably, by his poor performance in last month's election debate with Donald Trump.

"I don't believe that's my approval, and that's not what our polls show," Biden said, in an uncharacteristically confrontational conversation on the MSNBC show.

He called Trump a liar. He claimed his rival had spent every day since the debate playing golf. He said he doesn't care what millionaires think about his campaign, or his chances of re-election.

But does he care what people in his party think?

Biden is the Democratic Party candidate for the election, hoping to secure a second term as president, but there are now growing calls for him to step aside – and the calls are coming from inside the house.

"I just think this race is on a trajectory that is very worrisome if you care about the future of this country," said Michael Bennet, democratic senator from Colorado, the first senator, but one of the latest Democrats to publicly suggest Biden drop out.

"Donald Trump is on track, I think, to win this election, and maybe win it by a landslide and take with him the Senate and the House."

There is, however, huge support for the president inside the Democratic Party, with only a handful of senators and congresspeople speaking publicly against Biden's decision.

But Texas Democratic congressman Lloyd Doggett feels the same as Bennet.

"The risk to our country is so great, and we need to have the strongest candidate possible, in order to assure that the values that we hold for our democracy are not traded for an authoritarian strongman, bent on revenge against his opponent," he says.

Even veteran voice of the US left, Nancy Pelosi, had some choice comments on Biden's future, saying: "It's up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We're all encouraging him to make that decision, because time is running short."

"He has said firmly this week he is going to run... I want him to do whatever he decides to do."

Starmer meets Biden

But, as Jon Sopel says, Pelosi's comments are said with "a forked tongue", because if you listen to the president, that decision has already been made – he has decided to run.

"She's really saying, Joe, it's for you to really decide you're pulling out," Jon says.

"Because, frankly, why does he need to make a decision, he's already made a decision. She is in essence, saying, Joe, you have made the wrong decision.

"This is a really significant intervention."

One voice that grabbed more headlines came from Hollywood – a hugely influential part of the US election process, with celebrity endorsements a key part of attracting voters. This week, The New York Times published an opinion piece written by George Clooney, urging Biden to step aside to make way for a new nominee.

Jon describes Biden's current situation as "a president clinging on to his nomination to run again," and "a catastrophe waiting to happen".

But names like Bennet and Doggett – or even Pelosi – are not, The News Agents believe, influential enough to force Biden's hand. That, they say, can only come from the real big-guns in the Democratic Party.

"He is safe, unless Barack Obama and Bill Clinton tell him it is over," adds Jon.

"If they did that, that changes everything."

This week, Biden is hosting a NATO summit in Washington for world leaders, including Keir Starmer in his first overseas appearance as the UK's Prime Minister.

Emily Maitlis says that if Biden can make it through the week without controversy, and stays "upright", he will be "untouchable", and have his candidacy secured.

"The thing that is saving Biden right now is the arrival of Kier Starmer, and others, for the NATO talks," she says.

"The 36 world leaders allowing Joe Biden to look very statesman-like – he is obviously the President – and he is welcoming them for the 75th anniversary of NATO."

Although she adds that he will be sticking to a script, and will be "surrounded at all times" to ensure there's no repeat of his concerning debate performance.

The current uncertainty about Biden's suitability could also, Emily says, cause a headache for Donald Trump, who will next week be formally named as the Republican candidate for the 2024 election, at the annual Republican National Convention.

At the event, he's also expected to name his running mate, and the Biden backlash could throw that into disarray, depending on who might possibly replace the president, if the Democrats change track at the 11th hour.

"If Trump thinks that there is the slightest suggestion that the person he is running against might not be Biden, does his whole equation of who that running mate is change?" Emily asks.

"If suddenly it does become Kamala Harris, does he go for Marco Rubio to help boost the Latino vote? Does he think about a woman instead of one of the white guys that he's currently got at the top of the ticket – JD Vance or Doug Burgum.

"So Trump is also slightly in limbo, and desperate for the Democrats not to replace Biden."

Possible replacements for Biden include Vice President Kamala Harris, although her approval rating is not much higher than the President, while California governor Gavin Newsom and Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer are also popular picks for the top job.

But there is one name, The News Agents believe, that could settle everything in one fell swoop. That name is Taylor Swift.

One issue with replacing Biden is the money which has already been donated to the Biden/Harris campaign – but a new candidate, more likely to appeal to younger voters (Harris or Whitmer, for instance), would truly benefit from support from young, influential stars like Swift, and ensure financial support for a fresh Democratic Party leader.

"Taylor Swift has very cleverly not endorsed anyone partly because I guess, to your 18 year old, do any of her followers really warm to either of the candidates? So why would she get involved?

"If it was a young, dynamic woman? I wonder if she wouldn't just go there, you know, and once Taylor Swift says it, oh, my God, I think your funding issues and your voting issues are probably solved."

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