‘Palpable’: NBC Reporter Says ‘Ground Has Shifted Underneath Biden’ As ‘Drips And Leaks’ Hint He May Drop Out

NBC News political reporter Ali Vitali joined MSNBC on Thursday to discuss the latest reporting suggesting that top Democrats may have finally tilted President Joe Biden toward dropping out.

“This drip, drip, drip of lawmakers coming out and asking the president to step aside now leaks about leadership conversations last night. Can we expect more of this? What do you hear?” MSNBC anchor José Díaz-Balart asked Vitali.

“What it really feels like, Jose, is that the drips and leaks might be the thing to finally break the dam, but this is not going to be some kind of massive watershed moment publicly, but instead that it might come through blind reports that we’re seeing overnight about conversations that the president had with top members of Congress,” Vitali replied, adding:

And, look, based on the statements that we’ve gotten from both Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries office as recently as this morning in the last few hours. What’s clear is that those officers are not shying away from saying that their bosses relayed concerns to the president. In the case of Chuck Schumer, it’s that it was a blunt, private conversation. In the case of Hakeem Jeffries, we knew. And then he went in a dear colleague letter to his colleagues here to say that he was relaying the concerns that we have heard from Democrats and that he has heard from Democrats.

Hakeem Jeffries has really run this caucus up here on the Hill since his time being atop it as someone who really does embark on listening tours of his members. He himself doesn’t weigh in, but he gives his members the space to vent their concerns. In this case, it’s been a lot of venting, of frustrations, of panic, both about the drag that Biden could have on their own reelection efforts, but also out of concern because all of these Democratic members know the stakes in needing to defeat former President Trump. Many of them say that one of their biggest concerns in the aftermath of the debate was not just that Biden couldn’t do the job, but that he couldn’t carry the message, and that the message is one of just such stark contrast, whether it’s on something like project 2025 or abortion, or basic transitions of democracy, peaceful transfer of power. Talking about January 6th. Democrats want the focus to be there.

And instead you have seen this continued circular firing squad. And so a lot of attention is being paid to what Schumer and what Jeffries might have told the president in their private conversations. But again, if they’re saying they relayed concerns, and we know from talking to members what those concerns are, we have a pretty good sense then of what might have been said to the president. And so it is clear at this point, as John so rightly said, that Biden is getting those warnings from key people within his own party, but he’s remaining steadfast at this point in saying he’s going to be the party’s nominee. At least that’s where the conversations stand right now.

Vitali later posted to X, “There is now a palpable sense that the ground has shifted underneath Biden, per five people w/ knowledge of the situation, even among some of the president’s most defiant internal backers who now believe the writing is on the wall.” Vitali linked to an NBC story titled, “’We’re close to the end’: Biden world braces for the possibility that the president steps aside.”

Watch the clip above via MSNBC.