by Wendell Husebø
President Joe Biden will step aside as the presumptive Democrat presidential nominee as “soon as this weekend,” several top Democrats privately told Axios Thursday.
The Biden-Harris campaign immediately rejected the idea, telling Bloomberg that Biden will remain atop the ticket.
Nearly two-thirds of Democrats want Biden to quit the race, an Associated Press/NORC poll found Wednesday.
“His choice is to be one of history’s heroes, or to be sure of the fact that there’ll never be a Biden presidential library,” one of Biden’s closest friends told Axios. “I pray that he does the right thing. He’s headed that way.”
Axios reported its conversations with top Democrats:
Why it matters: The 81-year-old president, now self-isolating with COVID, remains publicly dug in. But privately he’s resigned to mounting pressure, bad polls, and untenable scrutiny making it impossible to continue his campaign, the Democrats tell us.
Behind the scenes: The private message, distilled to its bluntest form: The top leaders of his party, his friends and key donors believe he can’t win, can’t change public perceptions of his age and acuity, and can’t deliver congressional majorities.
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The president is being told that if he stays in, former President Trump could win in a landslide and wipe away Biden’s legacy and Democrats’ hopes in November.
full story at https://www.breitbart.com/2024-election/2024/07/18/top-democrats-say-biden-will-exit-race-soon-weekend/