Top Democrats are saying that the growing pressure from congressional leaders and close friends will convince President Joe Biden to drop his reelection bid, potentially as soon as this weekend.
Biden has continued to insist publicly that he's staying in the race, but it's a different story in private, Axios' Jim Vanderhei and Mike Allen reported Thursday.
Behind closed doors and now sick with COVID, Biden, 81, is realizing that his campaign can't continue, considering the pressure from lawmakers, bad polling numbers, and scrutiny about his age and health, Democrat sources said.
The top Democrat leaders, Biden's friends, and his key donors further believe that he can't defeat former President Donald Trump, can't deliver majorities to his party in the House and Senate, and can't convince the public that his age and acuity aren't issues in his serving another four years in the White House.
Further, Biden is being told that if he remains in the race, Trump could defeat him in a landslide, destroying his legacy in public office.
Democrats are also expecting polls after the Republican National Convention wraps this week that will show that Biden as the Democrat nominee also will bring down congressional Democrats.
"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," one of the president's close friends told Vanderhei and Allen. "I pray that he does the right thing. He's headed that way."
An Associated Press poll Wednesday showed nearly two-thirds of Democrats want Biden to pull out of the race, numbers that echoed through the White House and Congress.
Biden campaign manager Quentin Fulks told reporters in Milwaukee, the site of this week's Republican National Convention, that the Biden-Harris campaign is not working with any scenarios that do not include Biden at the top of the ticket. His comments came in response to the Axios article.
However, a campaign to get Biden to step away is becoming increasingly relentless and coordinated.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. spoke with Biden on Saturday in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, telling him it would be best for him to drop out of the race, ABC News has reported. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has also reportedly delivered a similar message to Biden.
In addition, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who is masterminding a large part of the push to get Biden to drop out, has told him that if he stays in, he will destroy the Democrats' chances of retaking the House.
Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have remained silent, as has former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but their former aides have been speaking out, slamming Biden publicly.
Even more telling, the Axios report says, top Biden aides are now saying it's a matter of when, not if, Biden announces he will not stay in the campaign.
Biden must be the one who makes the decision to step out, as he already has the delegates for the nomination and can't be forced out. Other key Democrats, meanwhile, are planning a virtual roll call to make sure he is officially named the nominee before the Democratic National Convention in August.