MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough went on a lengthy tirade on Thursday morning urging President Joe Biden’s closest allies to help him “do the right thing,” indicating he should drop out of the presidential race without explicitly calling for it.
“This is not going to end well if it continues to drag out,” Scarborough said Thursday on Morning Joe, referencing the president’s debate flop and the steady stream of Democrats who have since come out publicly to call on him to withdraw from the ticket.
Biden is known to watch the Morning Joe show daily and often speaks with Scarborough about current political issues and media coverage. Scarborough has been a staunch defender of Biden throughout his presidency, but has since turned on the 81-year-old commander-in-chief following his poor debate performance against former president Donald Trump late last month.
“It’s really incumbent on people that are around Joe Biden to step up at this point and help the president and help the man they love and do the right thing,” Scarborough said. He added that some in Biden’s orbit are keeping him in the race for financial reasons.
“The anger I hear are at the people that are keeping him in a bubble or who may have their own interests, some financial, in keeping him in the race. That is the real anger,” Scarborough continued. “It is widespread. Joe Biden deserves better. He deserves better than he is getting from those closest to him.”
The cable-television host said members of Congress are concerned they are going to lose the House and Senate in November, noting that Biden’s polling numbers are plummeting in swing states and his funding from Democratic donors is drying up.
Intraparty pressure for Biden’s withdrawal continues to mount, with at least 20 Hill Democrats publicly calling on him to step aside and allowing a different candidate to take his spot on the party’s ticket. Representative Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) was the latest lawmaker to do so.
Additionally, some top Democrats have been privately telling Biden that he’ll lose to Trump in November if he continues running for a second term.
Representative Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), the former House speaker, said current polling indicates Democrats will lose the White House and fail to retake the House if Biden becomes the nominee in the coming weeks, four sources briefed on the phone call told CNN. Biden responded defensively, saying he has seen polls that show otherwise. Pelosi did not call for his withdrawal in the private conversation.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) have also recently spoken with Biden about his viability. Schumer met directly with Biden on Saturday — the day of the failed assassination attempt on Trump — to tell him it would be best for the Democratic Party if he dropped out of the race. Jeffries privately suggested the same last week.
Despite the urgent pleas, the White House maintains he will stay in the race: “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.”
Pelosi, Schumer, nor Jeffries have yet made a public statement telling Biden to bow out. That could change in the coming days, as several top Democrats plan to persuade him to withdraw as soon as this weekend, Axios reported.
“His choice is to be one of history’s heroes, or to be sure of the fact that there’ll never be a Biden presidential library,” a close friend to the president told the outlet. “I pray that he does the right thing. He’s headed that way.”
Biden retreated to his Delaware beach house after he tested positive for Covid-19 in Las Vegas on Wednesday, taking him off the campaign trail for the time being.