(Headline USA) President Joe Biden’s allies are pushing to nominate him several weeks before the formal Democratic National Committee convention to ward off any potential challengers, according to Bloomberg.
The DNC is reportedly looking to hold a virtual vote on July 21, just a few days after the convention’s credential committee meets to formalize the rules and procedures for the week-long event.
They had already planned on nominating Biden electronically prior to the in-person vote at the convention, which starts Aug. 19 in Chicago. But their timeline has now moved forward significantly in light of recent demands for Biden to step aside from the 2024 ticket.
A CBS News poll this week found that nearly half of Democratic voters want Biden to step aside and not accept the party’s nomination.
Several prominent Democrats, including liberal comedian Bill Maher and Democratic strategist James Carville, have also urged the DNC to ditch Biden and hold an open convention to replace him.
And on Tuesday, the first elected Democrat called for Biden to step down for the sake of down-ballot candidates.
“President Biden has continued to run substantially behind Democratic senators in key states and in most polls has trailed Donald Trump,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, said.
“I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not,” he added. “… Our overriding consideration must be who has the best hope of saving our democracy from an authoritarian takeover by a criminal and his gang.”
However, so far Biden has dismissed calls for him to drop out.
“I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious,” Biden told supporters at a rally in North Carolina last week. “I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t talk as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong, and I know how to do this job.”
