The House Democratic leader shared few details about the meeting, and he did not say whether he told the president to end his re-election campaign.
- Share full article
Representative Hakeem Jeffries has offered no hint of whether he shared his own conclusions with President Biden about what he thinks the president should do.
Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, met one-on-one with President Biden on Thursday night to discuss the deep concerns many of his members harbor about the viability of the president’s re-election campaign.
In a brief letter he sent to House Democrats on Friday morning, Mr. Jeffries, a deliberate politician and a relatively untested leader, offered few details about the meeting, which took place at the White House after the president’s high-stakes news conference. The private meeting, Mr. Jeffries told his colleagues, had been set at his request.
“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,” Mr. Jeffries wrote.
In a moment when every word from Democratic leaders is being parsed, it was notable that Mr. Jeffries, who has said he supports Mr. Biden, left out any endorsement of the president in his three-paragraph letter.
Mr. Jeffries also did not say whether he had shared a conclusion with Mr. Biden about what he thinks the president should do, based on his extensive conversations with members and the data he has reviewed. Congressional Democrats have been quietly passing around grim polling numbers that suggest that Mr. Biden would lose to former President Donald J. Trump and potentially drag down House and Senate candidates with him.
Mr. Jeffries, whose job is to steer Democrats back to the majority in the House, has been participating in group meetings and one-on-one conversations with members for almost two weeks since Mr. Biden’s disastrous debate performance sent Democrats into a panic about his candidacy. Mr. Biden’s serviceable news conference on Thursday night left many Democrats concerned that the conversation about his viability will only drag on longer, with Democrats divided on the best path forward.
More than 60 out of the 213 House Democrats have publicly reiterated their support for Mr. Biden, but a steadily growing number have also called for him to step aside. Many more agree but have so far remained silent publicly, in the belief that speaking out may only cause the president to dig in further. Those Democrats have shared their concerns privately with Mr. Jeffries and are hoping that he, along with Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the former speaker, will privately encourage Mr. Biden to end his run.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Jeffries declined to comment about the tone and tenor of the meeting.
“The letter sent by Leader Hakeem Jeffries to his House Democratic colleagues speaks for itself,” said Christina Stephenson, a spokeswoman for Mr. Jeffries. “It was a private conversation that will remain private.”
Annie Karni is a congressional correspondent for The Times. She writes features and profiles, with a recent focus on House Republican leadership. More about Annie Karni
See more on: Democratic Party, U.S. House of Representatives, President Joe Biden, U.S. Politics, 2024 Elections
- Share full article
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Source: nytimes.com
