President Joe Biden is meeting with four Democratic congressional groups Friday and Saturday in an effort to restore confidence in his presidential campaign and stem the flood of lawmakers calling for him to exit the race, according to two reports.
Biden also met with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., on Thursday night to discuss "the path forward."
With at least 19 lawmakers so far publicly calling for Biden to drop out of the race, he took meetings with these key groups to address the groundswell of unrest with his party, according to Axios and The Hill:
- Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC)
- Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC)
- New Democrat Coalition (NDC)
- Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC)
Biden met with CHC and CAPAC on Friday, with the NDC and the CPC scheduled for Saturday, according to Axios. The Hill reported that the meetings were scheduled through each group's campaign arm.
Biden's meeting with the NDC will be held virtually while Biden is in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, according to The Hill.
"President Biden heard our concerns and was energetic, responsive, and clear in communicating his messages and goals. I thank the President for taking the time to have this meeting and hear our concerns," CAPAC Chair Judy Chu, D-Calif., said in a statement picked up by both outlets.
Biden met with the CHC through its political arm, the BOLD PAC.
Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, told Axios that Biden "sounded sharp and alert," adding, "The criticism he gets from the press certainly doesn't reflect what he sounded and looked like today."
Jeffries and Biden met Thursday night after the president's press conference. CNBC reported that Biden didn't get back to the White House until after 9 p.m. EST, putting their meeting sometime after that.
Both Jeffries and the Biden campaign were vague about specifics of the meeting and outcomes, specifically whether Jeffries called on the president to drop out.
Jeffries sent a three-paragraph letter to the Democratic caucus Friday morning about the meeting, writing, "I directly expressed the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives and conclusions about the path forward that the Caucus has shared in our recent time together." Jeffries said Thursday he would request that meeting only after hearing from every member of the caucus.
A Biden campaign aide didn't add any specificity about the conversation either.
"The president and leader had a very good conversation, a substantive conversation," Quentin Fulks told CNBC. "I know that it was important for the president to connect with leader Jeffries, and so I'll just have to leave that at that."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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