Democrats will lose by large numbers this fall if President Joe Biden doesn't drop his reelection bid, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said in a private donors' meeting over the weekend, according to sources with direct knowledge of his remarks.
"I think if he is our nominee, I think we lose," the congressman, who is running for the U.S. Senate in California, said during a fundraiser in New York on Saturday, a person with access to a transcript from the event, told The New York Times. "We may very, very well lose the Senate and lose our chance to take back the House."
The East Hampton fundraiser was held shortly before the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Calls for Biden to drop out of the race have eased somewhat after the shooting, giving the president some time to revive his campaign, which has been floundering since his performance in the June 27 debate against Trump.
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee is pushing for a virtual roll call that would allow it to formally nominate Biden by the end of this month, so he would be holding the lot before the party's convention in Chicago in August.
The fundraiser for Schiff also included donors for Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who is running for the Senate, as well as Maryland Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks.
Schiff has been an outspoken critic of Trump for years but said at the fundraiser that Biden and his campaign are not willing to consider the views of outside political experts and pollsters when it comes to staying in the race.
One donor told The Times that Schiff's remarks left him believing Biden's chances of winning in November are almost gone and the time and money should be given instead to down-ballot candidates, such as the California congressman.
Schiff's campaign declined to comment, and Biden's pointed to statements from recent days showing strong support from congressional allies.
Earlier this month, Schiff told NBC's "Meet the Press" that Biden would have to "overwhelmingly" defeat Trump to stop challenges from the former president that the election had been stolen.
He also said that he believes Vice President Kamala Harris would be a "phenomenal president," but declined to say if he thinks Biden could win.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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