President Joe Biden urged his supporters to stay unified at a rousing Black church service in critical Pennsylvania on Sunday, even as his campaign team quietly braced for growing pressure on him to abandon his reelection bid amid intensifying questions about whether he's fit for another term.
Speaking from a stage flanked by sunshine from stained-glass windows at northwest Philadelphia's Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, the 81-year-old Biden laughed off concerns about his age, joking "I know I look 40" but "I’ve been doing this a long time."
"I, honest to God, have never been more optimistic about America’s future if we stick together," Biden said, speaking from a prepared text but foregoing a teleprompter.
As Congress prepares to resume this week, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries convened top committee lawmakers Sunday afternoon to assess their views.
More Democratic lawmakers are expected to voice their concerns that Biden step aside, but others are mounting efforts to stand by the president and return the focus on Trump and the danger they say he poses to the country and democracy.
Biden himself was personally calling lawmakers through the weekend. On Saturday, he joined a call with campaign surrogates and reiterated that he has no plans to leave the race, despite a political situation that is increasingly precarious.
Instead, the president pledged to campaign harder going forward and to step up his political travel, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Five Democratic lawmakers have already called on him to abandon his reelection campaign ahead of November. As Congress reconvenes, meeting in person means more chances to discuss concerns about Biden’s ability to withstand the remaining four months of the campaign — not to mention four more years in the White House — and true prospects of beating Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump.
Biden’s campaign team is calling and texting lawmakers to try and head off more potential defections. They are also asking high-profile Biden supporters to speak out, in hopes of bringing those with lingering concerns back in line.
Calls to bow out popped up from different directions.
Alan Clendenin, a Tampa city councilman and member of the Democratic National Committee, said on Sunday, "I believe it is in the best interest of our country and the world that President Joe Biden step aside and allow Vice President Kamala Harris to carry forward his agenda as our Democratic nominee."
And director Rob Reiner, who has helped organize glitzy Hollywood fundraisers for Biden in the past, posted on X, "It’s time for Joe Biden to step down."
With the Democratic convention fast approaching, the short term is especially critical. Those who feel Biden is no longer up to the task are imploring Democrats to replace him at the top of the ticket before, they argue, it’s too late.
Biden’s Friday interview with ABC has not convinced some who remain skeptical. That's despite a weekend boost coming from other key Democrats who had raised previous questions but now have moved to support Biden, led by Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina.
Democratic fundraising bundler Barry Goodman, a Michigan attorney, said Sunday that he still backs Biden but, should he step aside, he'd back Harris. That’s notable since Goodman was also a finance co-chairman for both of the statewide campaigns of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has also been mentioned as a top-of-the-ticket alternative.
"We don’t have much time," Goodman said. "I don’t think the president gets out. But if he does, I think it would be Kamala."
After the church service, Biden visited a campaign office in Philadelphia, where Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who won a tough 2022 race while recovering from a stroke, offered a forceful endorsement of the president.
"There is only one guy that has ever beaten Trump," Fetterman said. "And he is going to do it twice and put him down for good."
Biden also has a scheduled rally later with union members in Harrisburg. Stepping off Air Force One there, the president was asked if the Democratic Party was behind him and emphatically responded, "Yes." He returns to Washington, where leaders from NATO countries will gather for a three-day summit beginning Tuesday.
Despite the sentiments of the likes of Fetterman, though, others aren't fully convinced.
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told CNN that Biden "needs to answer those questions that voters have" while adding, "If he does that this week, I think he will be in a very good position and we can get back to what this campaign needs to be."
Biden has rejected undergoing independent cognitive testing, arguing that the everyday rigors of the presidency were proof enough of his mental acuity. Still, California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff told NBC on Sunday that he'd be "happy if both the president and Donald Trump took a cognitive test."
As some Democrats have done, Schiff also seized on Biden suggesting during the ABC interview that losing to Trump would be acceptable "as long as I give it my all."
"This is not just about whether he gave it the best college try," Schiff said "but rather whether he made the right decision to run or to pass the torch."
