Biden’s brutal week ends with deluge of calls to quit and donors holding $90 million hostage

After a competent but stumbling appearance at a high-stakes press conference on the world’s stage Thursday evening, President Joe Biden’s campaign is hoping to end a weekslong crisis as he faces calls to end his re-election campaign over growing concerns about his viability and fitness for office.

But the campaign’s been unable to stop a deluge of lawmakers, prominent celebrities, and donors calling on him to quit, with potentially $90 million worth of donations now at stake if he remains atop the ticket.

Barack Obama has even reportedly spoken privately with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about concerns that he may not be up to the task of defeating Donald Trump, adding to fears that the president will spend the next several months heading into an election he cannot win. According to multiple reports, Obama and Pelosi are still unsure of how to make the case to Biden that he needs to stand down.

Obama appeared with Biden at a fundraiser last month, before the 81-year-old president’s floundering performance in his first 2024 debate against Trump. He initially spoke up in Biden’s defense in a post-debate social media post, but he hasn’t spoken on the matter since, and appears to be taking a wait-and-see approach in the hopes that Biden will make a decision on his own.

Biden has insisted on staying in the race, most recentlyduring his closely watched press conference at the close of the annual NATO summit in Washington.

Speaking to a packed house of high-ranking officials and reporters on July 11, Biden used the opportunity to underscore what he described as the global stakes of the 2024 election while warning against the threat of his “predecessor” fracturing long-held alliances.

Yet at the same time he was hoping to