July 5, 2024

Who is backing Biden? We're keeping track

Jeongyoon Han & Hilary Fung
Article origination NPR Service
President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference on the final day of the NATO summit in Washington, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference on the final day of the NATO summit in Washington, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

 

Public calls for President Biden to step aside picked up after the Republican National Convention, as key members of his party called for him to step aside despite reassurances from his campaign.

Democrats have spent the past several days anxiously debating whether more members should or would go public with their concerns about the president's fitness to run for a second term, according to conversations with numerous staffers, members, lobbyist and consultants.

The latest group includes Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the fourth senator to publicly call for Biden to go. Also notable, a group of four prominent members from the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the progressive caucus called on Biden to step aside. The Congressional Black Caucus had been one of the president's staunchest supporters previously. However, the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus continued to stand behind Biden.

The announcements come as the Biden campaign insists he will return to the campaign trail next week once he finished isolating as he recovers from COVID. NPR is tracking which Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to step out of the race, expressed concerns, or have said they back Biden’s presidential bid. We have provided links to publicly available comments; all others listed have been confirmed by congressional sources to NPR. .

This list will be updated as more Democrats weigh in. In some cases, changes will include a shift in position, which will be documented. This list is updated frequently and is current as of the time posted at the top of this story. 

 

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Clarification: A previous version of this tracker included Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., as expressing concern, but he has been moved to Backed Biden after his staff sent a statement further clarifying his position.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-NY, was previously listed under Called on Biden to step down. NPR confirmed with several sources that Nadler called for Biden to step aside in a private meeting of Democrats held on Sunday, July 7. However, Nadler publicly backed Biden two days later. The tracker has been updated to reflect that change.

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