Top Democratic leaders build pressure on Biden to bow out

US President Joe Biden's imperiled reelection campaign has hit new trouble as House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said merely "it's up to the president to decide" if he should stay in the race, celebrity donor George Clooney said he should not run and Democratic senators and lawmakers expressed fresh fear about his ability to beat Republican Donald Trump.

Late in the evening, Vermont Senator Peter Welch called on Biden to withdraw from the election, becoming the first Senate Democrat to do so. Welch said he is worried about the race because "the stakes could not be higher."

The sudden flurry of grave pronouncements despite Biden's determined insistence he is not leaving the 2024 race put on public display just how unsettled the question remains among prominent Democrats.

On Capitol Hill, an eighth House Democrat, Rep. Pat Ryan of New York, and later a ninth, Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, publicly asked Biden to step aside.

"I want him to do whatever he decides to do," Pelosi said Wednesday on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" rather than declaring Biden should stay in. While Biden has said repeatedly that he’s made his decision, she said, "We’re all encouraging him to make that decision, because time is running short."

The first-term senator said he is calling on Biden to withdraw "with sadness."

Democrats at a crossroads

It’s a crucial moment for the president and his party, as Democrats consider what was once unthinkable — having the incumbent Biden step aside, just weeks before the Democratic National Convention that is on track to nominate him as their candidate for reelection.

Biden is hosting world leaders in Washington for the NATO summit this week with a crowded schedule of formal meetings, sideline chats and long diplomatic dinners showcasing his skills. His party at a crossroads, Biden faces the next national public test on Thursday at a scheduled news conference that many Democrats in Congress will be watching for signs of his abilities.

To be sure, Biden maintains strong support from key corners of his coalition, particularly the Congressional Black Caucus on Capitol Hill, whose leadership was instrumental in ushering the president to victory in 2020 and is standing by him as the country’s best choice to defeat Trump again in 2024.

"At this moment, the stakes are too high and we have to focus,” Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota told The Associated Press on Tuesday, saying Democrats are "losing ground" the longer they fight over Biden’s candidacy. "Democracy is on the line. Everything we value as Democrats, as a country, is on the line, and we have to stop being distracted."

Pelosi has been widely watched for signals of how top Democrats are thinking about Biden’s wounded candidacy, her comments viewed as important for the party’s direction as members weigh possible alternatives in the campaign against Trump.

Because of her powerful position as the former House speaker and proximity to Biden as a trusted longtime ally of his generation, Pelosi is seen as one of the few Democratic leaders who could influence the president’s thinking.

Her remarks came as actor Clooney, who had just hosted a glitzy Hollywood fundraiser for the president last month, said in a New York Times op-ed that the Biden he saw three weeks ago wasn’t the Joe Biden of 2020. "He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”

Another Democrat, Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, said on Wednesday he was "deeply concerned" about Biden winning the election, which he called existential for the country.

"We have to reach a conclusion as soon as possible," Blumenthal said on CNN.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer invited Biden's campaign to address senators' concerns. The president's team is sending senior Biden advisers Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti, and Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon to meet with Democratic senators privately on Thursday for a caucus lunch, according to both a Senate leadership aide and the Biden campaign.

"Whatever you’re thinking, either tell somebody privately but you don’t have to put that out on the table until we see," she said, how it goes "this week."

Leaders urge withdrawal

The list of congressional Democrats calling for Biden to drop his reelection bid has grown to nearly a dozen, according to media outlets.

Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva last week urged Biden to withdraw.

"What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat, and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race," said Grijalva.

New Jersey’s congressman Mikie Sherrill also encouraged Biden to not run again because the threat of another Trump term in office is "too real."

Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton told the WBUR television station it was time for Biden to step down and "let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump."

Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett was the first sitting member of Congress to call for Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race.

Three other Democratic congressmen — New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, New York Rep. Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, and California Rep. Mark Takano, the top Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee — also urged Biden to drop out of the race.