MILWAUKEE — The Biden-Harris campaign insisted Thursday it is not working on back-up plans in case President Biden is not on the Democrats’ 2024 presidential ticket – even as calls for his withdrawal from the left grow louder.
Transition plans for Vice President Kamala Harris to take over the ticket are also not under consideration, said Quentin Fulks, principal deputy campaign manager for the Biden-Harris campaign.
“Our campaign is not working through any scenarios where President Biden is not at the top of the ticket. He is and will be the Democratic nominee,” Fulks told reporters at a press conference on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention.
“The president has said it several times: he’s staying in this race,” he said. “I talk to the president every single day in some form … He is usually fact-checking me on a statistic that I got wrong.”
The Biden campaign held the press event just a few blocks away from Fiserv Forum, where the RNC-goers reveled in former President Donald Trump’s recent push for “unity” in the party – and across the nation.
But concerns about Biden’s viability to serve and the growing Democratic mutiny against him took center stage instead.
“I don’t want to be rude, but I do not know how many times we can answer that,” Fulks vented when asked about reports that Biden indicated he is receptive about giving up.
On Wednesday, an ABC News report emerged that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) privately and forcefully encouraged Biden to step aside over the weekend.
A spokesperson for Schumer did not explicitly deny that report, but rather, called it “idle speculation.”
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), who stumped for Biden at the presser, did not reveal whether he had direct knowledge of Schumer’s private remarks to Biden but acknowledged the report.
“I wish equal attention was being paid to the views of the many, many Senate Democrats who are completely supporting and actively helping the Biden-Harris ticket,” he said.
Earlier in the day Wednesday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who is vying for a seat in the Senate, publicly called upon Biden to step aside, becoming the 21st congressional Democrat to do so.
Padilla explained that while he respects Schiff “tremendously,” he couldn’t “disagree more on this.”
“Anybody who’s wondering whether President Biden is committed, members of Congress got a letter,” Padilla said, referring to a message Biden sent congressional Democrats telling them he’s “firmly committed” to saying in. “He’s thought about it. He’s been approached, and he’s decided.”
“As far as the campaign goes, nobody’s predicting a landslide this November in any direction,” he added about concerns about Biden’s electoral viability.
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), who was fielding questions for Biden outside the RNC as well, contended that she wants disgruntled Democrats to unify.
“I’m very comfortable that we will be more unified because we understand that diversity is our strength,” she said. “We’re having some family discussion. I’m comfortable that we’ll work through it.”
That comes as former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party are pushing a message of unity in the party following their candidate’s near-assassination on Saturday. The GOP is attempting to come together and overcome divisions that played out in the House of Representatives over the past year.
In another blow to Biden, he tested positive for the COVID-19 respiratory illness, prompting him to cut a campaign trip to Las Vegas short.
“The president is feeling fine. He is self-isolating in Delaware. He’s continuing to make calls and be working at some official meetings today. A lot of campaign calls that he’s getting through,” Fulks said.
At least one staffer for the Biden-Harris campaign later went up to a reporter after the presser concluded and bashed them for the repeated questions about Biden staying in the race.
