Top Democrats in Washington walking a careful line on Biden amid party panic about his candidacy

Top Democrats in Washington are mired in an ongoing crisis over President Biden's continued candidacy that has been exacerbated by his recent COVID diagnosis.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, are all responding to leaked reports that they have directly appealed to Biden to step aside. None are publicly denying the leaks. Democrats have been panicking — both in public and in private — as they try to appeal to Biden to voluntarily step aside.

Biden has continued to insist that he is still expects to be the party's nominee and is undeterred from his campaign.

Asked in an interview on Wednesday whether he feels betrayed by leaders in his party, Biden acknowledged that his "terrible" debate against former President Donald Trump three weeks ago had fueled the questions about his age. But he said his record stands for itself — and took a swipe at political reporters.

"They have no limit," he told Luis Sandoval of TelevisaUnivision’s Uforia, complaining that "there are no editors anymore."

On Thursday, Biden was working from home in Rehoboth Beach, Del., and was “feeling fine,” his deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks told reporters in Milwaukee.

Fulks, who was trying to talk about Republican policies ahead of Trump's speech on the sidelines of that party's national convention, expressed some frustration at the continued line of questioning about whether Biden might change his mind about running.

“I talk to the president every day, like I said: he is not wavering on anything. The president has made his decision. I don't want to be rude but I do not know how many more times we can answer that," Fulks said.

A series of non-denial denials

None of the top leaders have publicly declared Biden should remain the party's nominee, fueling more questions from rank-and-file members about how explicit they have been in their private discussions with the president.

After the Washington Post reported former President Barack Obama has told people he thinks Biden needs to consider whether his bid for a second term is still viable, a source familiar with Obama's thinking said he "continues to see his primary role as a sounding board and counselor for President Biden, as they have long done for each other for many years now."

"He believes Joe Biden has been an outstanding president and is protective of him both personally and of the Biden administration’s strong and historic accomplishments," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

A Pelosi spokesperson released a statement Thursday responding to reports published by CNN that Pelosi told Biden that polls show he cannot defeat Donald Trump and his continued candidacy could prevent Democrats from retaking control of the House. The statement does not explicitly deny the reporting.

“Speaker Pelosi respects the confidentiality of her meetings and conversations with the President of the United States," the spokesman wrote. "Sadly, the feeding frenzy from the press based on anonymous sources misrepresents any conversations the Speaker may have had with the President.”

Jeffries and Schumer weigh in

The continued panic has escalated during the Republican National Convention where Presidential nominee Donald Trump is set to accept his party's nomination tonight.

The Pelosi statement follows a similar response from Jeffries and Schumer following reporting in The Washington Post that the pair asked Biden to step aside in a recent conversation.

A Jeffries spokesman released a statement Wednesday saying the pair "expressed the full breadth of insight, perspective and conclusions about the path forward" without explicitly denying that they called on Biden to step aside.

“Leader Hakeem Jeffries privately met with President Joe Biden a week ago. On behalf of the House Democratic caucus, he directly expressed the full breadth of insight, perspective and conclusions reached about the path forward - after extensive colleague to colleague discussions," the spokesman wrote. "Any further characterization of the private, one-on-one meeting between President Biden and Leader Jeffries is speculative and uninformed. The letter sent by Leader Jeffries to his House Democratic colleagues speaks for itself.”

A Schumer spokesman took a similarly careful approach, calling reporting "idle speculation."

"Leader Schumer conveyed the views of his caucus directly to President Biden on Saturday," the spokesman wrote.

Congressional Democrats are frustrated that their efforts to communicate to the president that he could be a drag on their hopes of flipping the House and keeping the Senate are not getting through to his small circle of close advisors. Many are hoping that their top leaders, and the party's most respected political strategist, Pelosi, can appeal directly to Biden.

A poetic appeal from Rep. Jamie Raskin

Several members have privately discussed sharing concerns with Biden, including on calls with influential groups like the Congressional Hispanic and Black Caucuses and the New Democrat Coalition. Few of these appeals have become public.

However, NPR has obtained a copy of a letter sent by Congressman Jamie Raskin to President Biden on July 6. The heartfelt four page letter encouraged Biden to consult with fellow Democrats about his future and used a lengthy baseball metaphor to urge him consider taking “a well-deserved bow.” NPR has obtained the letter in its entirety. The letter was first reported by The New York Times.

The careful and admiring appeal inculdes a long recounting of Biden’s achievements, all building to a metaphor about the 2003 American League Championship Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Raskin used the story of Pedro Martinez refusing to leave the game after 118 pitches, despite giving up three straight hits. The Yankees, as Raskin recounts, went on to win the game.

 The story culminates in this line: “There is no shame in taking a well-deserved bow to the overflowing appreciation of the crowd when your arm is tired out, and there is real danger for the team in ignoring the statistics.”

It is a clear but careful appeal for Biden to consider the concerns of his party. The letter was sent as angst about Biden’s disastrous debate performance was rising in Democratic ranks.

The letter is the latest evidence that Democrats are working behind the scenes to appeal to Biden and his closest advisors.