What Obama and Pelosi are doing about Biden

Two of the Democratic Party's most powerful and popular personalities have assumed quiet, behind-the scenes roles as elements of the party maneuver to push President Joe Biden out of his faltering reelection bid.

They include former President Barack Obama, who was in touch with Hollywood icon and Democratic donor George Clooney before the actor published his buzzy and brutal NYT op-ed Wednesday calling on Biden to step aside as the presumptive nominee.

The two men, who are friendly, both attended the L.A. fundraiser Clooney referenced in his piece, where he said he’d beheld a diminished Biden and that the leader he had interacted with was “the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”

While Obama did not encourage or advise Clooney to say what he said, he also didn’t object to it, people familiar with their exchange said. The lack of pushback came despite the former president stepping out as one of the first big voices defending Biden following his abysmal debate performance last month — and as many of Obama's former aides have emerged as some of the incumbent’s biggest critics.

A representative for the Obama team declined to comment.

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, has been engaged in some more active maneuverings.

She carefully ironed out what she wanted to say Wednesday on “Morning Joe,” Biden’s appointment viewing — keeping Democratic leaders abreast of her intentions before she suggested on the program that Biden should quickly make a decision about whether he will step down.

Those comments were meant to serve as a subtle green light, one person close with Pelosi said, meant to encourage members to speak up about their desire to see change atop the ticket — and to warn Biden to reconsider staying in the race.

They had their intended effect: They reignited the debate over Biden's viability on the Hill after a day where he appeared to have temporarily quelled the mutiny .

Furthermore, in private conversations with lawmakers, the former speaker has been forthright about the dire situation the party now finds itself in. She’s suggested to people that Biden won’t win this November and should step aside, according to a half-dozen lawmakers and others who have either spoken with her or are familiar with conversations she has had.

In fact, she’s advised some Democrats in swing districts to do whatever they have to do to secure their own reelections — even if it means asking Biden to relinquish his place atop the ticket.

Pelosi has advised those members, however, to wait until this week’s NATO Summit is finished out of respect for Biden and national security writ large. Some members, we’re told, have already started drafting statements of what they want to say, ready to drop once foreign leaders leave town.

For members who aren’t in swing districts, Pelosi has encouraged them to take their pleas for Biden to step aside directly to the White House or the campaign so as to minimize public fighting. We’re told that some have tried but have not been able to get through to the president.

The speaker emerita, who has publicly said she supports whatever Biden chooses, denied that she is playing any role in trying to force Biden to step aside through a spokesperson Wednesday night: “Publicly and privately, Speaker Pelosi has acknowledged the concerns that many have expressed in recent days but has repeatedly said that she fully supports whatever President Biden decides to do,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

All told, the closely held discussions all suggest Democratic leaders appear to be seriously contemplating what many in their party called a “fantasy” just two weeks ago — that Biden might indeed have to go.

Later today, Biden faces his most consequential test since the debate threw the White House into chaos.

Thursday afternoon, Biden’s team heads to Capitol Hill for some damage control with lawmakers who don’t think the president has proven he can mount the type of aggressive campaign needed to defeat Donald Trump.

And at 5:30 p.m., the president faces a high-stakes press conference that will be closely watched — his every word parsed by journalists, Democratic officials and party strategists.

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