Democrat lawmakers are insisting that Joe Biden will not be replaced as the party’s presidential nominee despite persistent speculation otherwise.
Reports of Democrats entering “freakout” mode over poor polling and calls for the president to step aside from the 2024 election have generated conjecture that Biden will be replaced.
Citing concern over Biden’s age earlier this month, Business Insider unveiled a list of the top seven Democrats who could take his place as the nominee.
But when The Hill recently asked a Democrat senator about Biden being swapped out before the Democratic National Convention in August, the lawmaker “feigned putting a make-believe pistol to their temple.”
“There’s no way in hell that’s true. Not a chance in hell that’s true,” said the senator, who requested anonymity. “I don’t know what to say.”
The lawmaker admitted that stories of a planned replacement were “juicy,” but mostly likely concocted by commentators with “too much time on their hands.”
“The latest national [poll] has him at 50 [percent],” the senator added. “I think that’s real.”
The outlet described lawmakers trying to put the rumors of a replacement to rest as “exasperated” and “tired of hearing about the hand-wringing of Democratic voters and donors over Biden’s age and electability.”
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said such speculation is “bizarre.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) similarly brushed away the notion.
“I’ve heard no credible plan B, and I’m not counting on a plan B,” he told The Hill.
He went on to suggest that this Thursday’s debate between Biden and former president Donald Trump would mark a “critical point” in the president’s campaign.
“All of the questions that people are asking right now will have different answers after this debate,” Blumenthal said. “At the end of the day, it’s going to be a choice between the two of them. I think Biden is so much sharper, quicker, knowledgeable than even Democrats give him credit for.”
He added: “We all have moments when we can’t remember a name, but that’s not what’s important about being president of the United States.”
A fundraising consultant for the party told The Hill discussions about whether Biden will remain in the race tend to swiftly die off.
“If people mention that, if it’s talked about in settings, even if somebody says we need to have an alternative, it’s not really taken as something that seriously could happen,” said the consultant. “You’re in a conversation with somebody, somebody says, ‘Do we have a backup?’ Something like that. Because, honestly, [Vice President Kamala] Harris is not really seen as ready for prime time.”
In their view, the source said the chances of Biden being replaced is “zero.”
FiveThirtyEight has Trump and Biden locked almost exactly in national polls, with 40.7 and 40.8 percent, respectively.
A Morning Consult poll has both candidates tied at 44 percent.
Though a CBS News poll has Trump up over Biden by one percentage point, a FOX News poll has Biden besting Trump by two points.
