US President Joe Biden, who has tested positive for Covid for a third time, was reportedly been told by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that he could destroy the Democrats’ chances of winning elections in November, due to his age.
The 81-year-old President has responded to Pelosi that he still has a chance of winning the presidential race, according to a report by CNN. One of their sources has mentioned Biden getting defensive about the upcoming polls in response.
The California Representative had reportedly asked Biden’s Senior Advisor Mike Donilon to connect her with the President on a call, which would mark the second conversation between the two since Biden’s poor performance in the debate with Donald Trump.
Although Pelosi seems to have stopped fully backing Biden, it is not known yet whether she thinks that he should withdraw from the race altogether. In an interview last week, she said, “It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”
On the other hand, she took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) after the assassination attempt on Trump, writing, “As one whose family has been the victim of political violence, I know first-hand that political violence of any kind has no place in our society. I thank God that former President Trump is safe.”
As one whose family has been the victim of political violence, I know firsthand that political violence of any kind has no place in our society. I thank God that former President Trump is safe.
As we learn more details about this horrifying incident, let us pray that all those…
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 13, 2024
A Pelosi spokesperson has also reportedly told CNN that she has not spoken to Biden since Friday.
One of the Democratic Party’s leading fundraisers, actor George Clooney had said last week that Biden cannot win against time. Clooney said, “Top Democrats — Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi — and senators, representatives and other candidates who face losing in November need to ask this president to voluntarily step aside.”
Biden had recently slammed Trump for joking about Pelosi’s husband being attacked with a hammer, by a far-right conspiracy theorist in 2022, when she was the House Speaker.
“If I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if the doctors came and said ‘you’ve got this problem, that problem,'” Biden told the Black media outlet BET in an interview on Tuesday.
Biden testing positive for Covid today, amid pressure for him to withdraw from the White House race due to his age and mental acuity, makes the situation all the more tense in an already polarised nation ahead of the elections in November.
The instance of Biden mistakenly referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as Trump at his solo press conference has also added to doubts over his fitness as the US Presidential Candidate due to his age.
The last two weeks, especially after his disastrous performance in the presidential debate with Trump have seen Biden standing at a chance of losing celebrity support and key endorsers such as Teamsters. Meanwhile, Trump has regained the support of some of his key rivals including Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy at the Republican Convention following his assassination bid.
