Joe Biden’s advisers believe the United States president does not want to bow out of the November election before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Washington this week, as Biden is unwilling to give Netanyahu “the satisfaction” given the two leaders’ tensions over the war in Gaza, The New York Times reported on Friday.
The report, citing several unnamed people close to Biden, came after the Axios news site on Friday cited top Democrats as saying Biden had resigned himself to the pressure on him to quit, and could bow out as soon as this weekend.
But advisers say that Netanyahu’s impending visit could draw out the process of Biden pulling out of the race, with the president unwilling to give Netanyahu the satisfaction, given their strained relations lately over the Gaza war.
US-Israel tensions have simmered in recent months over the civilian toll in Gaza and the shortage of humanitarian aid there; the lack of a tangible plan by Netanyahu for Gaza’s post-war governance; Biden’s withholding arms from Israel over its offensive in Rafah; and Netanyahu’s perceived derailing of talks, mediated in part by the US, to secure a ceasefire and release of hostages held in Gaza. At least one member of Netanyahu’s government has also explicitly endorsed Biden’s rival, former US president Donald Trump, in the upcoming election.
Netanyahu is set to address a joint session of the US Congress on Wednesday at the initiative of the Republicans. Several Democrats have said they will boycott the speech over Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in Gaza. The premier was also scheduled to meet Biden, but the fate of the meeting is unclear as the US president isolates at his Delaware home following a COVID-19 diagnosis.
Biden, who is reportedly coughing and hoarse, has begun to accept the possibility he will have to step down, the Times said. He is reportedly resentful of high-ranking Democrats — including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former US president Barack Obama — whom he suspects of orchestrating a media campaign designed to pressure him to quit, as a growing list of Democrats have publicly called on him to do so.
At least two dozen congressional Democrats have publicly called on Biden to quit since his disastrous June 27 debate against the Republican nominee, former US president Donald Trump. Biden’s halting performance intensified concern about his age, already a major issue for voters.
The war in Gaza was launched in response to the Strip’s Hamas rulers’ thousands-strong October 7 attack on southern Israel, which left nearly 1,200 people dead and saw 251 taken hostage.
A portion of the Democratic voter base has come to deem Israel’s devastating offensive a “genocide,” signaling an erosion in support for Biden. In February, the White House denied reports that Biden had used an expletive to describe Netanyahu amid Democratic fears that the White House’s continued support for Israel could cost them the election.
Meanwhile, though, concerns over Biden’s age and mental acuity appear to have taken center stage for the American electorate, and the US president is said to be irked at powerful allies’ appearing to turn on him.
On Wednesday, Rep. Adam Schiff of California became the most prominent Democrat to publicly call on Biden to pull out of the race. Schiff, an ally of Pelosi’s — who is said to have privately told Biden she doesn’t believe he can win — wrote that he believes “it is time for [Biden] to pass the torch.”
The New York Times cited an ally of Biden’s as saying that although Schiff’s lips were moving, it was Pelosi who was speaking.
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| Democratic Representatives Adam Schiff, right, and Nancy Pelosi of California wave during San Francisco’s Pride Parade, June 25, 2023. (AP/Noah Berger) |
Citing a source with direct knowledge, CNN reported on Friday that Biden was “seething” at Pelosi over what he perceived as the former house speaker’s media campaign for Biden to drop his reelection bid.
The source told CNN Biden’s fury only grew when Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, a close ally of Pelosi’s, called for him to quit on Friday.
Other prominent Democrats who have reportedly expressed private doubts about Biden’s chances are Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Obama, under whom Biden served as vice president.
Biden is especially annoyed at Obama, according to The New York Times. The former US president all but anointed then-US secretary of state Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic nomination, at the expense of then-US vice president Biden. Clinton went on to lose the election to Trump, whom Biden defeated in 2020.
Biden, according to the Times, has also noted in private conversations that while he presided over the Democrats’ better-than-expected showing in the 2022 midterms, the party lost control of the US House during Obama’s first midterms in 2010.
Publicly, in any case, Biden, 81, remains defiant. On Friday, his campaign manager said that despite a “slippage” in support for the US president, he would “absolutely” stay in the race.
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