Jul 12, 2024 - 20:18
By cnbc.com

Biden set to face reporters as calls for him to step aside accelerate

President Joe Biden is set to face reporters at a solo press conference, as he faces growing calls by Democratic lawmakers and others to abandon his re-election campaign.
Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont on Wednesday became the first Democratic senator to publicly say Biden should drop out of presidential race, hours after actor George Clooney made a similar appeal.
Welch and others have cited Biden's performance in his debate two weeks ago against Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.

President Joe Biden is set to face reporters at a potentially make-or-break solo press conference on Thursday, a day after the first Democratic senator joined growing calls for Biden to drop out of the 2024 election contest, citing his "disastrous debate" two weeks ago against Donald Trump.

"For the good of the country, I'm calling on President Biden to withdraw from the race," Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont wrote Wednesday in an op-ed in The Washington Post.

"The stakes could not be higher. We cannot unsee President Biden's disastrous debate performance. We cannot ignore or dismiss the valid questions raised since that night," Welch wrote.

In addition to Welch, 11 Democrats in the House of Representatives have publicly said Biden should abandon his campaign and allow another Democrat to become the party's nominee for November's election.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat who retains both her House seat and powerful sway there, on Wednesday refused to say she wanted Biden to remain in the race, suggesting he might drop out despite nearly two weeks of his adamantly saying he would not do so.