In order for a new name to appear on the Democratic presidential ticket, longtime aides and advisers to President Joe Biden need to persuade him on three core points, according to the New York Times.
The first, and potentially most challenging, according to sources, is to argue that Biden cannot beat former President Donald Trump. Since his poor debate performance, Biden has dropped in the polls, with the latest aggregate polling from FiveThirtyEight showing Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, leading Biden by 2.1 percentage points. However, Biden has maintained that he can win the election.
According to discussions recounted by three anonymous sources to The New York Times, the second aspect the president needs to be convinced of is that another candidate, often suggested as Vice President Kamala Harris, could defeat Trump.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
A new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll released on Thursday shows Harris with a 2-percentage-point edge over Trump among registered voters if she secured the Democratic nomination.
The survey of 2,431 adults found Harris ahead of Trump 49 percent to 46 percent among all adults. Among registered voters, she held a narrower lead of 49 percent to 47 percent.
Conducted online between July 5 and 9, the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, potentially placing the candidates in a deadlock.
Lastly, sources said they would have to convince the president that if he were to drop out of the race, the selection process for a candidate would be smooth.
The White House has denied these accounts. White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told The New York Times: “Unequivocally, this is not true,” adding that “President Biden’s team is strongly behind him.”
T.J. Ducklo, a spokesperson for the Biden campaign, reiterated the same sentiment with regard to the president’s political staff, telling the outlet: “Patently false” and “This team stands with the president.”
This is a developing story that will be updated with additional information.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
