MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Democrats returned to Capitol Hill today after a holiday week break that was far from a vacation from politics. The party is in turmoil over how to move forward following President Biden's disastrous debate performance and an on-camera interview that did not go far enough to dispel questions about his age and fitness for office. This morning Biden was defiant on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MORNING JOE")
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I am not going anywhere. I wouldn't be running if I didn't absolutely believe that I am the best candidate to beat Donald Trump in 2024.
KELLY: Is it enough when calls from fellow Democratic lawmakers for Biden to step aside are getting louder? NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales joins me now. Hey, Claudia.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.
KELLY: OK, so we just heard a little taste there of his appearance. That was MSNBC this morning. Biden also wrote a long letter today defending his plan, saying, I'm staying in the race. Did those two things help? What are you hearing?
GRISALES: No, I'm hearing that both sides are still unmoved. And there's two categories here, those who are speaking publicly and those who are speaking privately. Some key members raised concerns over the weekend about Biden remaining in the race, including four committee leaders, such as Adam Smith of Washington state, who's the top-ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
But so far, the ranks of people explicitly calling for him to drop out are smaller than those backing him. For example, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said today, quote, "as I've said before, I'm for Joe." He will play a major role on the next steps. His counterpart in the House - that is, House Democratic Leader Hakim Jeffries - also backed Biden recently. That all said, there's many speaking privately about their quiet concerns and hopes for Biden to leave the race, including a handful of senior House Democrats who expressed those concerns in a private call with Jeffries and other leaders yesterday.
KELLY: Claudia, in that answer, I just heard you use the word private or privately three times. It sounds like lawmakers are saying one thing out loud and another thing privately. You've been talking to some of these lawmakers. What are they saying to you?
GRISALES: Right. They were granted anonymity to speak candidly about these private conversations. They worry there's limited time for Biden to leave the race. And by the time of their August convention, it will be too late. One told me they thought Biden was fragile, and a couple of members also told me they're concerned that Biden and the White House have now dug in. So the challenge here is this could present great political risk for members who do decide to speak out publicly. Now, Democrats will have their regular weekly meeting tomorrow, and they say that's going to be a major test and a chance to decide if they'll all push together for a nominee. And we can say the same for Senate Democrats, who are holding their regular meeting tomorrow as well.
KELLY: Well, where does this Sleeve Biden's relationship with his fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill?
GRISALES: This is clearly a low point. There's significant concern that Biden hasn't addressed the alarm after his debate performance. One told me they wanted to see Biden replace some key advisors on his campaign team. That has not happened. And his outreach overall on the Hill appears low, even in the midst of this crisis, and that's perhaps why we continue to see fallout here. So ultimately, this is a test for congressional Democrats. Can they get on the same page, and also, how much influence do they have here?
KELLY: Claudia, are you detecting any pattern here? You said there are two camps, two categories - those who want to push Biden to stay in the race, those who want to push him to drop out.
GRISALES: Right. We're seeing Democrats generally in safe blue districts defend Biden. That includes Florida Democrat Frederica Wilson, who put out a scathing statement. She said, quote, "any leader calling for Biden to drop out needs to get their priorities straight and stop undermining him." She said, stop listening to the political pundits, and focus on what's at stake. So this is going to be tricky. The Congressional Black Caucus, for example, will have a call with Biden tonight. That's another test in terms of where he can move members to speak out publicly in his favor. But we're seeing these concerns, and ultimately, this is a political test for Biden, and some are worried that he's treating it like a medical test.
KELLY: NPR's Claudia Grisales on Capitol Hill. Thank you, Claudia.
GRISALES: Thank you.
Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.