Schumer & Jeffries, Top Two Congressional Democrats, Privately Meet With Biden About Election Concerns

Last weekend, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), Congress’s top Democratic officials, privately met with President Joe Biden to express concerns about their party’s fate in November.

On Saturday, Schumer visited Biden’s home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, to discuss concerns about potential Democratic losses in November, according to a source close to both men who requested anonymity.

During their one-on-one meeting, which concluded shortly before the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally 400 miles away, Schumer expressed his bleak outlook on the Democratic party’s situation.

After meeting with Biden, Schumer issued a brief statement: “I sat with President Biden this afternoon in Delaware; we had a good meeting.”

Two Democratic members have said that Schumer also conveyed concerns from most of the caucus that he may not be able to defeat Trump.

Days before Schumer’s meeting, Jeffries also met with Biden and expressed similar concerns, warning that the president’s presence on the ticket could jeopardize Democratic chances in the House.

“Leader Hakeem Jeffries privately met with President Joe Biden a week ago,” said a spokesperson for Jeffries. “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.”

“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,” the spokesperson added.

According to a source familiar with their discussion, both Schumer and Jeffries also privately collaborated to oppose the party’s recent push to expedite Biden’s formal nomination process.

They expressed their concerns directly to the Democratic National Committee, leading the party to delay the nomination vote until at least Aug. 1.

Schumer and Jeffries’s meetings with Biden reflect growing concern in both the House and Senate over declining poll numbers.

Since his poor debate performance last month, many Democratic leaders have urged Biden to withdraw from the race since, as recent TV interviews and other public remarks by Biden have not managed to win back the support of skeptics in his divided party.

Although public discussion largely ceased on Saturday after the Trump assassination attempt, a forceful statement from Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California), a close ally to Democratic leadership, refocused attention on the internal campaign urging Biden to step aside.

Despite these calls, Biden has remained defiant about staying in the race.

After Schumer and Jeffries’ meetings, White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates stated, “The President told both leaders 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.”