House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with President Biden on Thursday night after his gaffe-filled “big boy” press conference capped the NATO summit in Washington, DC — and just hours before an 18th House Democrat would come forward and call for the commander-in-chief to drop out of the 2024 race.
Jeffries (D-NY), in a “Dear Colleague” letter Friday morning, revealed that he “was graciously granted a private meeting” with the 81-year-old president.
“In my conversation with President Biden, I 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,” the Brooklyn Democrat wrote, without weighing in on the oldest-ever president’s re-election effort.
Punchbowl News first reported on the meeting. Reps for Jeffries did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Later Friday morning, Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) released a statement on X that urged Biden to “pass the torch” to the next generation of leaders.
“I have deep admiration and love for Joe Biden and all he has done for our country, which is why this decision is so painful, but my son and my constituents can’t suffer the consequences of inaction at this critical moment,” Pettersen said.
“Joe Biden saved our country once, and I’m joining the growing number of people in my district and across the country to ask him to do it again,” she went on.
“Please pass the torch to one of our many capable Democratic leaders so we have the best chance to defeat Donald Trump, who is the greatest threat to the foundation of this country that we have ever faced,” Pettersen pleaded.
House Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes (D-Conn.) had called on Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race moments after the conclusion of the press conference, which was marked by a series of verbal stumbles.
“The 2024 election will define the future of American democracy, and we must put forth the strongest candidate possible to confront the threat posed by Trump’s promised MAGA authoritarianism. I no longer believe that is Joe Biden,” Himes said in a statement.
Reps. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.) and Scott Peters (D-Calif.) followed Himes soon afterward.
White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates had been crowing just minutes before about Biden’s foreign policy acumen.
“To answer the question on everyone’s minds: No, Joe Biden does not have a doctorate in foreign affairs,” Bates posted on X. “He’s just that f–king good.”
Biden had shocked some of the DC press corps by mixing up the names of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump at the closely watched news conference — after introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” at a different event.
Before Biden took questions from the press, more than a dozen House Democrats and one Senate Democrat had publicly broken ranks to demand the president step aside and allow a successor — possibly Vice President Kamala Harris — to face Trump in November.
Some of the lawmakers are in competitive swing districts, while others like Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) have explicitly warned that Biden will drag down Democrats on the 2024 ballot.
While Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have maintained support for Biden’s re-election, House Speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was noncommittal on the campaign in an interview earlier this week.
“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” Pelosi said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” after Biden had alerted congressional Democrats two days earlier of his intentions to stay in the race.
“We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short,” she went on without fully explaining what she meant.
“I want him to do whatever he decides to do. And that’s the way it is. Whatever he decides, we go with. I think it’s really important and I would hope everyone would join in,” Pelosi added later. “Let him deal with this NATO conference … And I’ve said to everyone, let’s just hold off whatever you’re thinking. Either tell somebody privately, but you don’t have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week.”