BREAKING: Biden sends letter to Hill Democrats: ‘I am firmly committed to staying in this race’

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ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JUNE 27: U.S. President Joe Biden embraces first lady Jill Biden following the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. President Biden and Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump are facing off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

In a two-page letter to House and Senate Democrats on Monday, President Joe Biden reiterated that he will not step aside and argued that it’s time for the party drama “to end,” as both chambers reconvene this week.

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“Now that you have returned from the July 4th recess, I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump” the letter read.

In addition to the letter, president Biden had the same message on the MSNBC talk show, Morning Joe, on Monday, during which he challenged his critics within the party:

“The bottom line here is we’re not going anywhere. I’m not going anywhere,” Biden told co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, telling his detractors to “challenge me at the convention.”

Despite mounting criticism of his reelection campaign, Biden maintains that he’s the “best person” to defeat former president Donald Trump this fall. His pitch focuses largely on the threat Trump allegedly poses to democracy. In his Monday letter, Biden argued that Trump and his supporters are “siding with the wealthy and the big corporations” and will ban abortion access nationwide should Trump return to the White House.

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“We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the general election,” Biden wrote. “Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.”

National Review reports that following Biden’s poor debate performance, top Democrats and media commentators have become concerned that Biden is no longer fit to run for reelection due to his old age and cognitive decline. Four senior House Democrats called on him to step aside during a private call with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) on Sunday.

Representatives Jerry Nadler (D., N.Y.), Joe Morelle (D., N.Y.), Adam Smith (D., Wash.), and Mark Takano (D., Calif.) forcefully urged Biden to drop out of the race during the two-hour call, sources with knowledge of the private discussion told Politico and other media outlets. The four lawmakers join the ranks of five other House Democrats who publicly called on Biden to withdraw within the past week: Representatives Lloyd Doggett (D., Texas), Raúl Grijalva (D., Ariz.), Seth Moulton (D., Mass.), Mike Quigley (D., Ill.), and Angie Craig (D., Minn.).

In addition to concerns and pressure mounting from politicians, “major Democratic donors on Wall Street are also growing increasingly concerned about Biden’s viability”, the New York Times reported.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, former treasury secretary Robert Rubin, and Blackstone COO Jon Gray reportedly held discussions over the weekend with colleagues and friends about the best path forward for the party.

Despite all public calls for him to bow out of the race, Biden has held firm that he will not. During an ABC News interview that aired Friday night, Biden told host George Stephanopoulos he would only end his campaign if the “Lord Almighty comes down and tells him to do so.”

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