What did Hakeem Jeffries tell President Joe Biden in private meeting?
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries shared in a letter with colleagues his private conversation with President Joe Biden when they met Thursday evening.
Hakeem Jeffries met with President Joe Biden yesterday evening which the leader of the House Democratic caucus “requested and was graciously granted.” On Friday, he shared in a letter with colleagues what was discussed in the private conversation he had with the Democrat Party’s presumptive nominee who has faced calls to drop out of the 2024 race since the first presidential debate with Donald Trump.
Concerns have been raised about whether Biden can effectively take on his rival in a rematch of the 2020 race for the White House. The Future Forward PAC, one of the largest Super PACs (political action committees) raising money for Biden, announced on Friday that it would halt spending as long as Biden stays in the race.
There are currently two dozen House Democrats that have publicly called on Biden to step aside and let another candidate take the top spot on the 2024 ticket for the party that could have a better chance at beating Trump.
What did Hakeem Jeffries tell President Joe Biden in private meeting?
Jeffries told his House colleagues that he “directly expressed the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives and conclusions about the path forward that the Caucus has shared in our recent time together.” House Democrats met behind closed doors on Tuesday to air their concerns and debate Biden’s position as the party’s presumptive nominee.
The leader of House Democrats has reiterated his support for the President’s candidacy telling the press “I support President Joe Biden.” However, in his letter, Jeffries did not say whether he told Biden to get out of the race or that he encouraged him to continue with his reelection bid.
President Biden has been adamant about his intentions to remain the Democratic nominee telling George Stephanopoulos in his first post-debate interview that he would only get out of the race “if the Lord Almighty comes down” and told him do so.
However, he did indicate that delegates at the national convention in August will be “free to do whatever they want” when asked at a press conference at the end of the NATO summit if he would allow delegates that doubt his candidacy to vote freely. Several names have been put forward as potentially stronger candidates to face Trump at the ballot in November.