NC Rep. Nickel weighs in on Democrats closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill to discuss nominee

Democrats on Capitol Hill met in a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning amid tension in the party and calls for Joe Biden to end his re-election bid.

Congressman Wiley Nickel (D-13) from North Carolina was in that meeting, he told ABC11 that though Democrats all have the same goal for November - beating Donald Trump - there is not a unified approach to reaching that goal.

"It's a diverse Democratic caucus in Congress, a great discussion, it's important that we talk about the best path forward," Nickel said.

Though it appears there were calls for Biden to end his bid for re-election in the meeting, and a seventh sitting Democrat came forward Wednesday to publicly call for Biden to step aside, Nickel's support remains behind the current president.

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"Joe Biden's the Democratic nominee. He's got my support," Nickel told ABC11. "I want to make sure we do all we can to ensure that he can beat Donald Trump in this next election."

When we pressed Nickel if he believed Biden could beat Trump in November, he said "absolutely", adding that Trump is a convicted felon and calling Trump's time in office a "disaster" for the American people.

"I would much rather be talking about Donald Trump's plans to cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy," Nickel said. "I think that's where the focus ought to be - instead of this constant talk about Biden's age."

Joe Biden narrowly lost North Carolina to Donald Trump in 2020. Frequent high-profile visits in recent months show the Biden campaign is trying as hard as they can to turn the Tarheel Sate blue in November.

"We are a close state. We are a true purple state. Biden only lost the state by a point and a half, four years ago. I think we've moved a point and a half more towards the center. So, it's going to be close," Nickel said. "North Carolina has a huge say in this. This is a race that's really only about, you know, six or seven states. North Carolina is one of those."

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden visited Wilmington on Monday of this week, and Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Greensboro on Thursday.