Former President Barack Obama has privately expressed concerns to Democrats about President Joe Biden’s candidacy, and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi privately warned Mr. Biden that Democrats could lose the ability to seize control in the House if he didn’t step away from the race.

Ms. Pelosi also showed Mr. Biden polling that he likely can’t defeat Republican Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss it.

Time racing, Democrats at the highest levels are making a critical push for Mr. Biden to reconsider his reelection bid, as unease grows at the White House and within the campaign at a fraught moment for the president and his party.

Mr. Biden has insisted he is not backing down, adamant that he is the candidate who beat Trump before and will do it again this year. Pressed about reports that Mr. Biden might be softening to the idea of leaving the race, his deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said on July 18: “He is not wavering on anything.”

In recent days the President has become more committed to staying in the race, according to another person familiar with the matter and granted anonymity to discuss it.

But influential Democrats from the highest levels of the party apparatus, including congressional leadership headed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, are sending signals of concern. Some Democrats hope Mr. Biden will assess the trajectory of the race and his legacy during this few days’ pause.

Using mountains of data showing Mr. Biden’s standing could wipe out the ranks of Democrats in Congress, frank conversations in public and private, and now, the President’s own time off the campaign trail after testing positive for COVID-19, many Democrats see an opportunity to encourage a reassessment.

Time is of the essence. If Democrats are seriously preparing the extraordinary step of replacing Mr. Biden and shifting Vice-President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, this weekend will be critical to changing the President’s mind, other people familiar with the private conversations said.

One said it’s now or never ahead of a planned virtual roll call to nominate the party’s choice in early August, ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Over the past week, Mr. Schumer and Mr. Jeffries, both of New York, have spoken privately to the President, candidly laying out the views of Democrats on Capitol Hill, including Democrats’ concerns.

Separately, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Representative Suzan DelBene of Washington, spoke with the President last week armed with fresh data. The campaign chief specifically aired the concerns of frontline Democrats who are seeking election to the House.

And on July 17, California Representative Adam Schiff, a close ally of Ms. Pelosi, became the highest-profile House Democrat to call for Mr. Biden to drop his reelection bid, saying that while the decision is Mr. Biden’s alone to make, he believes it’s time to “pass the torch”. Mr. Biden, in a radio interview taped just before he tested positive for COVID-19, dismissed the idea it was too late for him to recover politically, telling Univision’s Luis Sandoval that it’s still early and that many people don’t focus on the election until September.

“All the talk about who’s leading and where and how, is kind of, you know — everything so far between Trump and me has been basically even,” he said in an excerpt of the interview released on July 18 morning.

Some national polls do show a close race, though others suggest Trump with a lead. And some State polls have contained warning signs too, including a recent New York Times/Siena poll that suggested a competitive race in Virginia.

While the tensions over Mr. Biden’s ability to carry on a winning campaign subsided some, particularly after the Trump assassination attempt and as the Republican National Convention was under way in Milwaukee, Democrats know they have limited time to resolve the party turmoil after the President’s faltering debate performance last month.

To be sure, many Democrats want Mr. Biden to stay in the race. And the Democratic National Committee is pushing ahead with plans for a virtual vote to formally make Mr. Biden its nominee in the first week of August, ahead of the Democratic National Convention that begins August 19 in Chicago.

Late on July 17, ABC News reported new details about Mr. Biden’s private meeting over the weekend with Mr. Schumer at the President’s beach home in Delaware. It said Mr. Schumer told the President it would be “better for the Democratic Party, and better for the country if he were to bow out.”

A Schumer spokesperson called the report “idle speculation. Leader Schumer conveyed the views of his caucus directly to President Biden on Saturday.”

White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Mr. Biden told Mr. Schumer, as well as Mr. Jeffries, that “he is the nominee of the party, he plans to win, and looks forward to working with both of them to pass his 100 days agenda to help working families.”

But among Democrats nationwide, nearly two-thirds say Mr. Biden should step aside and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to a new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. That sharply undercuts Mr. Biden’s post-debate claim that “average Democrats” are still with him even if some “big names” are turning on him.

Mr. Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling on July 17 in Las Vegas and is experiencing “mild symptoms” including “general malaise” from the infection, the White House said.

The President, who has spent the past several days campaigning, had already been scheduled to return to his Delaware beach home even before the diagnosis.

Mr. Schiff’s announcement brings to nearly 20 the number of Democratic members of Congress calling on Mr. Biden to withdraw from the presidential race in the wake of his dismal debate performance against Trump last month.

Mr. Schiff said that by bowing out, Mr. Biden would “secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.”

Mr. Schiff is a prominent Democrat on his own, and his statement will also be watched because of his proximity to Ms. Pelosi.

It was Ms. Pelosi who revived questions about Mr. Biden post-debate, when she said recently that “it’s up to the President” to decide what to do — even though Mr. Biden had already fully stated he had no intention of stepping aside. The former House Speaker publicly supports the President, but has fielded calls from Democrats since debate night questioning what’s next.

In response to Mr. Schiff’s comments, the Mr. Biden campaign pointed to what it called “extensive support” for him and his reelection bid from members of Congress in key swing states, as well as from the Congressional Black and Hispanic caucuses. The campaign noted that Mr. Biden had been joined on his trip to Nevada this week by nearly a dozen Congressional Black Caucus members.

Still, Mr. Schiff’s announcement came after Mr. Schumer and Mr. Jeffries encouraged the party to delay for a week plans to hold the virtual vote to renominate Mr. Biden, which could have taken place as soon as July 21, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

The Democratic National Committee’ s rulemaking arm is set to meet on July 19 to discuss how the virtual vote plans will work and to finalise them next week.

“We will not be implementing a rushed virtual voting process, though we will begin our important consideration of how a virtual voting process would work,” Bishop Leah D. Daughtry and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, co-chairs of the rules committee for the Democratic National Convention wrote in a letter on July 17.

Washington:

Former US president Barack Obama has told allies that Joe Biden needs to reconsider his reelection bid, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

Obama believes that Biden’s path to victory has diminished and that the 81-year-old should “seriously consider the viability of his candidacy,” the newspaper said, citing people briefed on his thinking.

It said there was no immediate comment from Obama, who was in office while Biden was vice president from 2009 to 2017 and who remains hugely influential in the Democratic party.

Obama would be the most heavyweight Democrat so far to join a growing chorus in the party calling for Biden to drop out, following a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.

Biden, who is isolating with Covid at his beach house, has rejected concerns about his age and fitness and insisted that he is staying in the race for the White House.

Pressure is mounting, though, with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also both reportedly meeting with Biden in recent days to warn that his candidacy threatens his party’s prospects in November’s election.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Raleigh:

A fired-up Joe Biden came out swinging Friday as he tried to make up for a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump, insisting he was the right man to win November’s US presidential election.

Biden’s appearance at a campaign rally in the battleground state of North Carolina came amid rumblings in his alarmed Democratic Party about replacing the 81-year-old as their nominee — and shortly before the nation’s most influential newspaper urged him to step aside.

“I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” Biden admitted to supporters in unusually confessional remarks.

“But I know how to tell the truth. I know how to do this job,” he said to huge cheers, vowing, “When you get knocked down, you get back up.”

Biden’s team was in damage-control mode after Thursday’s debate when he often hesitated, tripped over words, and lost his train of thought — exacerbating fears about his ability to serve another term.

He had hoped to allay qualms about his advanced age, and to expose Trump as a habitual liar.

But the president failed to counter his bombastic rival, who offered up a largely unchallenged reel of false or misleading statements about everything from the economy to immigration.

On Friday, Biden delivered the lines Democrats wished they had heard in the televised debate.

“Did you see Trump last night? My guess is he set — and I mean this sincerely — a new record for the most lies told in a single debate,” Biden said.

“Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation. He’s a threat to our freedom. He’s a threat to our democracy. He’s literally a threat for everything America stands for.”

Trump also returned to the campaign trail Friday, speaking at a rally in Virginia and launching his familiar attacks on Biden in a rambling speech.

“It’s not his age, it’s his competence,” Trump said.

“The question every voter should be asking themselves today is not whether Joe Biden can survive a 90-minute debate performance, but whether America can survive four more years of crooked Joe Biden.”

A New Democrat?

Trump addressed the chances of Biden being replaced by another candidate, saying “I don’t really believe that because he does better in polls than any of the (other) Democrats.”

So far, no senior Democratic figure has publicly called on Biden to withdraw, with most toeing a party line about sticking with the existing ticket.

“I will never turn my back on President Biden,” California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has figured prominently on lists of possible replacement candidates, said immediately after the debate.

Forcing a change in the ticket would be politically fraught, and Biden would have to decide himself to withdraw to make way for another nominee before the party convention next month.

Biden overwhelmingly won the primary votes, and the party’s 3,900 delegates heading to the convention in Chicago are beholden to him.

If he exits, the delegates would have to find a replacement.

“Bad debate nights happen,” Biden’s former boss, Barack Obama, wrote on X.

But the election is “still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself.”

The show of Democratic loyalty and Biden’s defiance in North Carolina were not enough for The New York Times, however.

The daily newspaper slammed Biden’s campaign as a “reckless gamble” in the face of the threat posed by Trump, with its editorial board — which is separate from the newsroom — calling for the president to stand aside.

The “greatest public service Mr. Biden can now perform is to announce that he will not continue to run for re-election,” it said.

A logical — but not automatic — candidate to take Biden’s place would be his vice president, Kamala Harris, who loyally defended his debate performance.

As the Democrats scrambled, Trump allies sought to project calm assurance.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson, a senior Republican figure, said it was clear Biden was not “up to the job.”

“Donald Trump is the only man on that stage that’s qualified and capable of serving as the next president,” he said. “The election cannot get here soon enough.”

A second debate is scheduled for September 10.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

US President Joe Biden appeared to freeze at a campaign fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday and had to be guided off stage by Barack Obama. 

President Biden and former President Obama stood for applause following a 45-minute interview with Jimmy Kimmel at the Peacock Theatre. Joe Biden momentarily fixated on the crowd for about 10 seconds until Mr Obama took his arm and led him offstage.

That’s a wrap on record-setting Democratic fundraiser for Joe Biden’s reelection campaign (netting $28M). Former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden offer final waves to Peacock Theater crowd as Obama then grabs Biden’s hand to lead him offstage following 40-minute… pic.twitter.com/xbE2jf3jdz

— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) June 16, 2024

“This isn’t normal,” a user wrote under the post on X (formerly Twitter). 

This isn’t normal pic.twitter.com/X6bX6RVBrm

— Alex Bruesewitz ???????? (@alexbruesewitz) June 16, 2024

Another called the video “hard to watch.” He wrote, “Joe [Biden] literally froze on stage for 10 seconds before Obama came to his rescue. You tell me who the de facto POTUS is.”

This video is hard to watch

Joe literally froze on stage for 10 seconds before Obama came to his rescue

You tell me who the de facto POTUS is

— Andrew Fisher (@acpandy) June 16, 2024

The incident adds to a series of moments caught on camera where President Biden appeared disoriented or confused about his surroundings. At the G7 summit in Italy recently, he seemed to wander off during a parachute exhibition, resulting in the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to guide him back for a group photo with other world leaders. 

The ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER had to step in and stop Joe Biden from wandering off today

This guy is a TOTAL EMBARRASSMENT on the world stage

He’s totally gone pic.twitter.com/BzAIVw1J1i

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) June 13, 2024

Before that, during a Juneteenth concert at the White House, Mr Biden appeared momentarily disoriented, standing straight and staring into the distance while others danced and sang. 

Pay close attention to Joe Biden’s hands in this video! pic.twitter.com/C5r0ceTNnX

— Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) June 12, 2024

Last week, US First Lady, Dr Jill Biden, defended President Joe Biden’s age during a campaign speech in Green Bay, Wisconsin. She argued that age should not be a deciding factor in the election, saying her husband and his opponent Donald trump were “essentially the same age.” Jill Biden praised her husband as a “healthy and wise 81-year-old”, claiming that the elections were about the “character of the person leading our country” and not about age.

London:

Former US President Barack Obama dropped in for an unannounced informal meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street in London on Monday.

Obama waved at photographers as he entered the famous black door for what Downing Street officials later described as a “courtesy drop in” for a chat in the UK PM’s study. The agenda for the hour-long meeting was not revealed but it is likely the Russian re-election of President Vladimir Putin and the conflict in Ukraine may have featured in their discussions.

“He was making an informal courtesy drop-in as part of his trip to London, where he is conducting work of the Obama Foundation,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.

“I think President Obama’s team made contact and obviously the Prime Minister was very happy to meet with him and discuss the work of the Obama Foundation,” the spokesperson said.

This marks Obama’s first visit to Downing Street since he left the White House after his two terms as US President, between 2009 and 2017. The 62-year-old Democrat founded the Chicago-based Obama Foundation with a mission to “inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world”.

The meeting between Obama and Sunak is believed to be the first time the pair have met. Obama was seen leaving Downing Street around an hour later with the US ambassador to the UK, Jane Hartley, and smiled at reporters as he quipped that he was “tempted” when asked to speak.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Sunday slammed Islamic countries for not opening up their gates for civilians from Gaza who are seeking to flee their homes in the face of an imminent ground invasion by Israel. She also hit out at former US president Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the incumbent, over the Iranian nuclear deal and accused Tehran of strengthening Hamas and Hezbollah.

“We should care about the Palestinian citizens, especially the innocent ones because they didn’t ask for this. But where are the Arab countries? Where are they? Where is Qatar? Where is Lebanon? Where is Jordan? Where is Egypt? Do you know we give Egypt over a billion dollars a year? Why aren’t they opening the gates? Why aren’t they taking the Palestinians?” Haley told CNN in an interview.

“You know why? Because they know they can’t vet them, and they don’t want Hamas in their neighbourhood. So why would Israel want them in their neighbourhood? So let’s be honest with what’s going on. The Arab countries aren’t doing anything to help the Palestinians because they don’t trust who is right, who is good, who is evil, and they don’t want it in their country,” she said.

Haley anticipated that these Islamic countries would blame America.

“They’re going to come and blame America. They’re going to come and blame Israel. And don’t fall for it, because they have the ability to fix all of this if they wanted to. They have the ability to go in and tell Hamas right now to stop what they’re doing. They have the ability to tell Hamas to let those people out,” Haley said.

“But you know what? Qatar is going to continue to work with Hamas and their leadership. Iran is going to continue to fund all of this and not say anything. And who’s silent? Every one of those Arab countries are going to be silent. But expect for the finger to point to Israel, and the finger is going to point to America,” she said.

Haley said Hamas is going to do everything they can to not have them leave, because “they want them all to die”. “One, they want to use them as human shields, but, two, they want to blame Israel and show images of dead children and say, look at what Israel did,” she alleged.

“But don’t ever forget what Hamas did. Don’t ever forget those girls running for their life. Don’t ever forget those babies that were killed in cribs. Don’t ever forget the people that they were dragging through the streets. And what were they saying, Jake? They were saying, “Death to Israel, death to America,” she said.

“That’s who we’re dealing with. But I dealt with this at the United Nations. You’re going to hear all of those Arab countries vilify Israel for what’s about to happen. You’re going to hear all of them say, how dare you not do more for the Palestinian people?” said Haley, a former US ambassador to the UN.

She said right now, they cannot take their eyes off of the terrorists. “I mean, what Hamas did was beyond thuggish, brutal, and sick. What the Iranian regime is doing to help them is terrible. But let’s look back at, what did Biden do? Biden turned around and fell all over himself to get into the Iran deal. Obama did it before that,” she said.

“You gave all of this money. And what did you do? You empowered Iran to go and strengthen Hamas, strengthen Hezbollah, strengthen the Houthis to spread their terrorist activity. We went and strengthened those sanctions and decimated Iran’s economy. And what happened? Biden has loosened the sanctions,” she said.

Palestinian group Hamas carried out a barrage of air strikes in Southern Israel last week. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in response launched multiple attacks targeting Hamas’ key infrastructure. So far, thousands of people have been killed in Israel and the Gaza Strip in the biggest escalation in decades between the two sides.

“Now we have got the fact that he gave USD6 billion in hostage money. OK, now you have frozen it, but we have all these American hostages. Guess what they’re going to want? If you gave them USD 6 billion for five people and released hostages, guess what they’re going to be asking for all these others that we have?” Halley said.

“We have created this scenario where you have given Iran — the Iranian regime too much power and too much pull and to be able to do this. We have got to be strong. We have got to have Israel’s back. And, remember, as awful as these images are, and we have the back of Israel because they have been hit terribly, we have to have the back of them when they hit back as well,” Haley said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Former US President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, celebrated their 31st anniversary on Tuesday. The couple, who have been married since 1992, took to their official social media accounts to share heartwarming words for each other. In his post, while Mr Barack shared a picture of him and his wife posing together while standing in front of a field, Ms Michelle shared an image of her and Mr Barack smiling together in what appeared to be a park. 

“Happy anniversary, sweetheart! @MichelleObama, you’re brilliant, kind, funny, and beautiful – and I’m lucky to call you mine,” Brack Obama wrote on Instagram. 

Take a look below: 

Michelle Obama, on the other hand, shared a message in the caption about how special their relationship is. “31 years, and a lifetime to go. I love going through life with you by my side, @BarackObama. Happy anniversary, honey!” she wrote.

In the comment section of their posts, internet users praised the couple and congratulated them on their latest milestone. “sooo beautiful!!!!!! may love continue to flourish all around u in every may!!!! Blessings!!!!!!!” wrote one user. “That’s love right there in human form! Happy Anniversary,” said another. 

“Happy Anniversary, my own people. I love y’all too much. More grace, more smiles, more love to the best couple in the world,” commented a third. “Happy Anniversary to you both you have reached a great milestone wishing you Gods richest blessings Enjoy your day,” added another. 

Also Read | Victoria Beckham Addresses David Beckham’s Alleged Affair In Netflix Series

According to The Independent, the couple tied the knot in 1992 and they went on to welcome two daughters – Malia and Sasha. 

Last year too, the pair shared similar tributes in honour of their 30th anniversary. They uploaded throwback pictures from their wedding day and they expressed their love for each other. “Miche, after 30 years, I’m not sure why you look exactly the same and I don’t. I do know that I won the lottery that day – that I couldn’t have asked for a better life partner,” the former US President wrote in the caption.

Ms Michelle, meanwhile, marked their 30th anniversary by sharing side-by-side photos of the couple at the beach and on their wedding day. “Happy anniversary to the man I love! These last 30 years have been an adventure, and I’m grateful to have you by my side. Here’s to a lifetime together. I love you @BarackObama,” she wrote.