Biden gets support from key lawmakers as he tells Democrats he won't step aside after debate

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden stood firm Monday against calls for him to drop his reelection candidacy and called for an end to the intraparty drama that has torn apart Democrats since his dismal debate performance last month, as key lawmakers expressed support for him to remain in the 2024 presidential race.

As anxious congressional Democrats returned to Washington weighing whether to work to revive his campaign or to try to edge him out, Biden sent them an open letter aiming to silence their skepticism of his fitness to lead the country for another four years. He insisted he wasn't leaving the race and stressed that the party has “one job,” which is to defeat presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in November.

After a week of false starts, a coordinated effort by Biden and his campaign to shore up Democratic support appeared to be paying off, though he had by no means silenced his doubters. By late Monday, a sudden rush of public support from Democrats emerged — or at least some tempering of criticism — as Biden allies appeared to be trying to overpower the public and private voices calling on him to step aside.

Biden wrote in the two-page letter that “the question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end.”

“We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the general election,” Biden said in the letter, distributed by his reelection campaign. “Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It’s time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.”

Biden followed up the letter with a phone interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show, in which he insisted that “average Democrats” want him to stay in the race and said he was frustrated by the calls from party officials for him to step aside.

“They’re big names, but I don’t care what those big names think,” Biden said.

He threw the gauntlet at his critics, saying if they’re serious they ought to “announce for president, challenge me at the convention” or rally behind him against Trump. Later, Biden joined a call with members of his national finance committee, while first lady Jill Biden campaigned for her husband in a three-state swing focused on engaging veterans and military families.

“For all the talk out there about this race, Joe has made it clear that he’s all in,” she told a military crowd in Wilmington, North Carolina. “That’s the decision that he’s made, and just as he has always supported my career, I am all in, too."

Democratic voters are split on whether Biden should remain the Democratic Party’s nominee for president, or whether there should be a different Democratic nominee, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll.

On Capitol Hill, more prominent voices lined up behind Biden, including the chair of the House’s Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who was not ready to cast aside the president, saying that the threat of a second Trump presidency remains too high. Yet one of the most endangered Democrats this election cycle, Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, said in a statement, “President Biden has got to prove to the American people — including me — that he’s up to the job for another four years.”

However, Biden’s letter left some House Democrats, who want to hear directly from Biden himself, furious, according to one House aide granted anonymity to discuss the situation. Lawmakers particularly bristled at being cast as out of touch with voters since representatives in particular have been home in their districts listening to voters.

Biden met virtually Monday with the Congressional Black Caucus — one of his staunchest blocs of supporters in Congress — for 30 minutes. He told the group about his policy proposals for a second term, expressed gratitude to members for their support and repeatedly criticized Trump, according to a person familiar with the call and granted anonymity.

While not every member of the Black caucus spoke up, no one spoke out against the president, the person said.

Biden is also expected to meet this week with members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Jayapal.

Meanwhile, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden had undergone three neurological exams while in the White House as part of his annual physical exams — and no more — and said the president has not been diagnosed with or treated for Parkinson’s.

The drama is playing out with just over a month until the Democratic National Convention and just a week before Republicans gather in Milwaukee to renominate Trump as their presidential pick.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., part of a newer generation of progressive lawmakers, said she backed Biden and expressed worry that Democrats were taking their eye off defeating Trump. “We’re losing the plot here," she said.

Another prominent voice in the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Maxine Waters of California, said those opposing Biden “can speak for themselves or what they want to do, but I know what I’m doing because I’m a big Biden supporter.”

And Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, said: “I’m tired of all this speculation. I just want to concentrate on the fact that we have to defeat Trump.”

Trump, for his part, predicted that Biden would remain in the race. “It looks to me like he may very well stay in," he told Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity on Monday. “He’s got an ego and he doesn’t want to quit. He doesn’t want to do that.”

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who has publicly stood by Biden even as he weighs how to address the concerns of many in his conference, said “same answer" Monday after an evening meeting the Capitol when asked if he supported Biden.

At the same time, other House Democrats almost ran from questions. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., told reporters as she exited a leadership meeting that she was off to another meeting about the Great Lakes, and a group of House Democrats, including Reps. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Lauren Underwood of Illinois, changed the subject, declining to answer question as they ducked into an elevator.

Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, went public Monday with his call for Biden to step aside, saying it would be “a mistake” if Biden continues his campaign. "I’m calling on President Biden to step down,” Smith said on social media.

Biden’s allies said they expected more direct engagement from the president with lawmakers — like the CBC virtual meeting — as he scrambles to shore up his candidacy. On a call Saturday with his campaign co-chairs, Biden repeatedly asked them who else needs to hear from him, who else he needs to engage with and who still has unanswered questions or concerns, according to Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.

“He is out there doing his job as a candidate and doing his job as president,” Coons said.

Rep. Annie Kuster of New Hampshire, the chair of the New Democrat Coalition, has asked House leadership to invite Biden to speak to the entire Democratic caucus.

If the president’s going to stay in the race, “then help us respond to questions from our constituents," she said. "And it’s so much easier to say, I was with him.”

Rep. Nanette Barragan of California, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who supports Biden and campaigned recent with the first lady in Pennsylvania, said Biden “should talk to as many members as possible.”

Senators returning to Washington Monday were generally reluctant to criticize Biden, and many said they were waiting for the Democratic caucus meeting on Tuesday to hear concerns. It was still unclear if any Senate Democrats would publicly call for Biden to go, even as many have expressed deep concerns in private conversations over the last 10 days.

“He ran an excellent campaign, and he’s been an excellent president,” said Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet. “And I think what everybody is trying to satisfy is that’s the same trajectory and path that we’re on today.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer would not answer questions about Biden’s reelection as he entered the Capitol on Monday, but he told reporters, “As I’ve said before, I’m for Joe.”

Another Democrat, Sen. Alex Padilla of California, said it was “time to quit the hand-wringing and get back to door knocking.”

While some deep-pocketed donors may be showing discomfort, strategists working on House and Senate races said they have posted record fundraising as donors view congressional Democrats as a “firewall” and last line of defense against Trump.

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Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri, Kevin Freking, Darlene Superville, Jill Colvin and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

First lady Jill Biden speaks during an event at The American Legion Post 111 as she campaigns for her husband, President Joe Biden, on Monday, July 8, 2024, in Seminole Heights, Fla. (Dylan Townsend/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

A letter that President Joe Biden sent to House Democrats telling them to support him in election, shown Monday, July 8, 2024 in Washington. Biden's letter to Democrats in Congress says he wants them to know he has no intention of exiting this year’s presidential race. Biden sent the letter on Monday on his personal letterhead, not White House stationery. (AP Photo)

President Joe Biden smiles as he is asked questions by members of the media as he and first lady Jill Biden return on Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Sunday, July 7, 2024, after attending events in Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden attends a church service at Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ, Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Philadelphia (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy assured state election officials in a letter released Monday that he'll work with them to handle their warnings of problems with election mail delivery during the primary season, while insisting that the Postal Service will be ready for the flood of mail-in ballots ahead of the November election.

The Postal Service already dealt with most concerns raised by election officials, he said, after they warned that properly addressed election mail was returned — a problem that can cause voters to be automatically placed on inactive status — and that mail-in ballots were postmarked on time but arrived after election deadlines.

DeJoy said that training is already being beefed up for postal employees and that the Postal Service is already in constant contact with election officials and will work them to address quality problems that caused incorrect deliveries or mail to be returned to sender. He also said he'd work with them to avoid a repeat of “flawed ballot envelope designs," though many envelopes were already designed and printed, officials said.

The Postal Service also has teams in place to tackle mail flagged as “undeliverable as addressed,” or any other problem that might arise with election mail, DeJoy wrote.

The concerns were raised by the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors, even as former President Donald Trump continues to falsely claim he won in 2020 and seized upon the mail delivery troubles to sow doubts about the upcoming election. He repeated his claim Sunday on social media that the Postal Service is not up to the task.

In 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, election officials reported sending just over 69 million ballots in the mail, a substantial increase from four years earlier.

While the numbers this year may be smaller, many voters have embraced mail voting and come to rely on it. And both Democrats and Republicans have launched efforts to push supporters to vote early, either in person or by mail to “bank” their votes before Election Day on Nov. 5. In a sign of how quickly Election Day is approaching, the first batch of mail ballots were sent last week to absentee voters in Alabama.

Steve Simon, president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, on Monday stood by his assessment that the Postal Service has been slow to respond to concerns. He said that localized problems can be easily addressed but that “larger issues still remain.”

“If the nation’s election officials felt these issues had been properly addressed with USPS staff over the last year, then there would have been no need for our letter,” he said, referring to the airing of concerns last week.

In his response, DeJoy acknowledged that a massive network reorganization caused some temporary problems but assured the two bipartisan groups that changes are being paused to avoid slowing election mail ahead of the November election.

He suggested that Postal Service's performance in past elections should speak for itself.

Postal Service officials said that nearly 98% of ballots were returned to election officials within three days and that 99.9% of ballots were delivered within seven days in the last presidential election — at the height of the pandemic in 2020.

“As demonstrated consistently in previous elections, election mail routinely outperforms our regular service performance due to our long-standing processes and procedures,” DeJoy wrote.

First-class mail is currently averaging 2.7 days for delivery, DeJoy said, even though the two groups wrote in a letter last week that some election officials received timely postmarked ballots after Election Day and outside the three to five business days Postal Service sets as the standard for first-class mail.

Nonetheless, DeJoy said, voters shouldn’t procrastinate with mail-in ballots this election season. Both the Postal Service and state election officials are urging anyone voting by mail to return their ballots well before Election Day or to use drop boxes where available.

Associated Press writers Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.

FILE - U.S. Postal Service trucks park outside a post office in Wheeling, Ill., Monday, Jan. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)