Biden to Dems: I’m not leaving

WASHINGTON (CN) — President Joe Biden implored congressional Democrats on Monday to quit questioning his fitness for office, telling lawmakers in a letter that he would stay in the race and urging the caucus to get in line behind the White House.

Biden’s call to action comes as Congress returns from its Independence Day recess — which proved to be anything but a respite for mounting calls on the president to drop his reelection bid.

More than a half dozen high-profile Democratic lawmakers, including New York Representative Jerry Nadler and California Representative Mark Takano, said as recently as Sunday that Biden should step aside. Other Democrats have expressed concerns about his ability to beat former President Donald Trump in November.

But the president told his caucus Monday that there was no chance he would bow out of the race.

“The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now,” Biden wrote in a letter to congressional Democrats. “And it’s time for it to end.”

Intraparty squabbling over Biden’s viability only serves to help Trump and Republicans, the president reasoned, arguing that Democrats should instead be unified under the White House ahead of the election.

Biden repeated his claim that he would not have sought another term in office if he didn’t believe he was the best person to defeat Trump and argued that any Democrats concerned about his ability to serve could have vied to replace him in the primaries.

“This was a process open to anyone who wanted to run,” Biden said, adding that he won the votes necessary to secure the Democratic nomination by a wide margin.

“Do we now just say this process didn’t matter? That the voters don’t have a say?” he wrote. “I decline to do that.”

But Biden said he was “moved” by what he called expressions of good-faith concern from his colleagues, writing that he knew some worries about his candidacy came from “a place of real respect” for his career in politics and tenure as president.

In an effort to shore up his colleagues’ support, Biden appealed to their values, arguing that allowing Trump and Republicans to win in November would be a victory for corporations, the wealthy and right-wing activists. He doubled down on several of his campaign promises, including plans to codify abortion rights and build millions of new housing units.

The president further cautioned Democrats about the consequences a new Trump administration could have on the Supreme Court, which many lawmakers have contended is beholden to conservative political interests.

“Donald Trump and his majority want more of the same from the court,” Biden said, “and the chance to add to the right-wing majority they built by subverting the norms and principles of the nomination and confirmation process. We are the ones that will bring real Supreme Court reform.”

And, running back an argument that has long been the backbone of his candidacy, the president positioned himself as the strongest bulwark against the undemocratic aspirations of Trump, exemplified by the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, where supporters sought to overturn his election loss.

“We can never allow him anywhere near that office again,” Biden said. “And we never will.”

It’s unclear whether the president’s correspondence will do anything to quell Democratic anxiety about his ability to serve a second term in office — concerns that ramped up following a shoddy performance in the first presidential debate and a lackluster interview with ABC News which aired Friday.

During a call Sunday with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, four Democrats including Nadler and Takano said Biden should withdraw from the race, NBC News reported. Washington Representative Adam Smith and New York Representative Joe Morelle also called on the president to step aside.

Other congressional Democrats have already suggested that Biden’s time is up. Minnesota Representative Angie Craig said in a statement Saturday that there was “too much at stake” to risk a second Trump presidency.

“I have great respect for President Biden’s decades of service to our nation and his steadfast commitment to making our country a better place,” Craig said. “However, given what I saw and heard from the president during last week’s debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the president himself following that debate, I do not believe that the president can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump.”

Meanwhile, Virginia Senator Mark Warner was reportedly planning to host a meeting with Senate Democrats Monday to discuss urging Biden to withdraw, but as of Monday morning the event had been called off. Warner has not publicly said whether he thinks the president should drop out of the race.

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