President Biden on Friday faced escalating pressure from Democrats questioning his viability as a candidate, as rank-and-file lawmakers continued to call on him to end his re-election bid and the president resisted their entreaties, privately defending his decision to continue running.
Their House leader made it clear directly to Mr. Biden that his members still harbored deep concerns over the president’s candidacy.
And as he campaigned in the battleground state of Michigan, prominent Democrats — including the governor and both of the party’s senators — were not by his side.
Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, a stalwart Biden surrogate who has been on the road promoting her own book, was expected to be absent from an event he held in Detroit.
Back in Washington, Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, met one-on-one at the White House with Mr. Biden on Thursday night to discuss the deep concerns many of his members harbor about his ability to defeat Mr. Trump in November.
Persons:
Biden, Biden’s, —, Gretchen Whitmer, Gary Peters, Debbie Stabenow, Elissa Slotkin, Stabenow, Donald J, Trump, Hakeem Jeffries
Organizations:
Gov, Democrats, Senate, White
Locations:
Michigan, Detroit, Washington, New York