Top Biden Aides Believe President Will Drop Out of Race, Axios Reports

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Joe Biden could be dropping his reelection campaign as soon as this weekend, several top Democrats told Axios . In a stunning report, Axios’ Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei write, “We increasingly hear top Biden aides, including ones who initially urged him to fight on after his disastrous debate on June 27 — 21 days ago — are saying it’s now when, not if, Biden announces he’s not running.”

Multiple Democrats spoke anonymously with Axios and said “rising pressure” from congressional Democrats and “close friends” are making Biden dropping from the race a matter of when and not if.

Biden has insisted he’s remaining in the race amid concerns about his age and stamina. He is currently self-isolating in Delaware with Covid.

“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. I pray that he does the right thing. He’s headed that way,” a “close friend” of the president told Axios.

According to an Associated Press poll released this week, nearly two thirds of Democrats back Biden dropping from the race. A Politico poll also found a number of other Democrats getting much more favorable backing than the president.

Both the White House and Biden’s campaign continued to insist Biden is not stepping down from his reelection campaign. More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers have called for Biden to drop out.

Biden campaign senior advisor TJ Ducklo pushed back on the Axios report, calling it “baseless conjecture.”

“Joe Biden is his party’s nominee. He’s the President of the United States. He’s running for reelection. Baseless conjecture from anonymous sources isn’t a scoop. Tonight a convicted felon will talk about how he’ll make people’s lives worse if he gains power. Let’s focus,” Ducklo wrote on X.

The Axios report follows reports that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) privately met with Biden and told him he could cost Democrats not just the presidency, but also any control in Congress.