Will this be the final blow? Former President Barack Obama, still very influential within the Democratic Party, has, according to the American press on Thursday, expressed his doubts about the “viability” of Joe Biden’s candidacy.
The 81-year-old president is playing for his political survival and has been forced to put his campaign on hold due to COVID-19.
The Democrat, who has mild symptoms a day after testing positive according to his doctor, said he feels “fine.” He is recovering at his seaside home in Delaware, in the eastern United States.
But this diagnosis could not have come at a worse time.
Firstly, because it comes in the midst of a wave of questions about the president’s physical and mental health after a disastrous debate at the end of June against Donald Trump, during which he often struggled to articulate his thoughts, or even to finish his sentences.
Then because the contrast with his rival Mr Trump, 78, is striking.
The Republican remains surrounded by the aura of a miracle worker after surviving an assassination attempt on July 13. Radiant, he is acclaimed night after night at the Republican convention, during which he is to be inducted Thursday evening with great fanfare as the right-wing candidate for the November presidential election.
” The end ” ?
On the Democratic side, the tumult is increasingly audible, despite public attempts to display a united front and denials from the White House.
Thursday, the Washington Post reported that Barack Obama, under whom Joe Biden served as vice president, had told people close to him that he believed his former sidekick should “seriously evaluate the viability of his candidacy.”
If the news becomes official, Mr Obama would be the most prominent Democrat to join the voices urging Joe Biden to throw in the towel.
Montana Rep. John Tester, who himself faces a tough re-election campaign in the rural northwestern state, on Thursday became the second Democratic senator to publicly call on Joe Biden to step down.
Leaks – anonymous – also continue to multiply in the American media.
Democratic congressional leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries both reportedly told the president in separate meetings that his candidacy could jeopardize the party’s chances in November.
As for the very influential Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, she has according to the Washington Post told colleagues that she thought Mr. Biden could be convinced fairly quickly to drop out of the race.
“We’re getting closer to the end,” said a person presented by NBC News as being close to the president.
Misfortunes
The Democrat’s campaign team is trying to close the door on speculation. “He’s still in the race,” Quentin Fulks, a campaign official, told reporters.
“Our team does not envisage any scenario” where Joe Biden would not be a candidate in November, he insisted.
From the beginning, Joe Biden has said he will remain the Democrats’ candidate. “We’re going to win,” he recently told supporters, believing he is the person most likely to beat Donald Trump.
“I don’t debate as well as I used to,” he previously acknowledged, but “I can do the job.”
On Wednesday, he hinted for the first time at the idea of abandoning his campaign, saying he would reassess his candidacy if he were diagnosed with a medical condition.
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Donald Trump must be enjoying the Democrats’ misfortunes.
Showing his control over the Republican Party, he must formally accept on Thursday evening to be the right-wing candidate for the presidency, during a grandiose party during which tens of thousands of balloons in the colors of the American flag will be released.
And while he is beset by legal cases, he has recently scored two major victories: federal charges against him in Florida were dismissed, and the Supreme Court granted broad criminal immunity to the president, which could jeopardize some of the proceedings against him.
