The Democrat Civil War Rages On

• Democrats are still debating whether to dump Biden or keep him

• This week saw many powerful Democrat leaders publicly express concern with his ability to serve

• While Biden and Democrat lawmakers try to distract from their chaos, Trump and Republicans are gaining in the polls

The story

In a chaotic week marked by frustrating closed-door meetings, Democrats are in disarray over how to manage the president’s post-debate collapse. President Biden remains steadfast in his decision not to drop out of the race, despite major Democrat donors scrambling to find a replacement.

Party leaders, like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and former President Barack Obama, walk a rhetorical tightrope. On television and in speaking to the press, they try to steady the ship and remain optimistic about the president’s reelection chances.

In private discussions with donors, they debate options for replacing Biden and for managing party discord between the lawmakers urging Biden to stay and influential voices calling for him to step down.

With only four months until the presidential election, nobody knows who will face Donald Trump. But the past week in Washington, D.C. may have proven that, given the lack of unanimity on a course of action, inertia could prevail.

The politics

Democrat lawmakers are under close scrutiny to see who turns against Biden, potentially opening the Congressional floodgates. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) indicated that more Democrats will publicly oppose the president after he heads the NATO summit.

Far from endorsing the president, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) commented about Biden's impending decision, "We're all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short." As one of Washington’s top power brokers, Pelosi's hesitancy to approve Biden signals a major crisis of confidence within the party.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also spoke out. "As I have made clear repeatedly, publicly and privately, I support President Biden.” Despite his claims of support, behind the scenes Schumer is reportedly telling donors he’s open to opposing Biden.

A senior Democrat, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), was interviewed last week about the debacle. When pressed on whether President Biden would still be the nominee next week, he responded, "I don't know. Events are unfolding very fast. I want to create space for the president and the White House to make a careful, reflective, and patriotic decision.”

Beyond the headlines

Behind the scenes, a seismic shift is underway as Democrats prepare to throw Biden overboard. His campaign is quietly assessing Kamala Harris's viability against Donald Trump with a head-to-head voter survey. The survey is believed to be the first of its kind, disseminated to measure Harris’s odds as a replacement presidential nominee.

Further, close allies and members of the president’s administration are supposedly pondering how to convince him to step aside — though a White House spokesman “unequivocally” denied these reports. While Biden’s own staff turns against him, he remains forthrightly determined to lead the party.

Since the debate two weeks ago, the media published numerous leaks from White House staff, in stark contrast to its relative silence during the previous four years of President Biden's tenure.

One particularly revealing report claimed, “Ahead of closed-door Cabinet meetings that Biden attends, it is customary for Cabinet officials to submit questions and key talking points that they plan to present in front of Biden ahead of time to White House aides.” Speaking anonymously, a source close to the president said, “The entire display is kind of an act. They would come and say, ‘Hey, the president is going to call on you about 25 minutes in and ask this question. What are the bullet points you’ll respond with?’”

The babysitting of a president by his staff is truly novel in modern American history. Although the press and high-ranking Democrats are finally acknowledging these issues, many have been aware of them for years.

Meanwhile, much of the media and Democrat politicians are attempting to distract the American people from President Biden’s decline by conjuring a new bogeyman.

Joe Biden’s X account has on multiple occasions drawn attention to Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 — a 920-page policy blueprint for the next GOP president which has likely never been read in its entirety.

Purported evils of Project 2025 — allegedly to be implemented by the next Republican administration — are intended to scare ordinary Americans into voting for Biden, despite having witnessed his cognitive failures on live television.

Why it matters

The world is watching closely to see how the president and the Democrat Party proceed. Growing numbers of voices coming from Congress, the media, and the donor class may not be enough to throw the president overboard, as the decision rests with him alone.

Nonetheless, Democrat infighting persists while Donald Trump pulls farther ahead in polling averages. And while the full extent of Biden’s effect on down-ballot races remains uncertain, numerous races recently shifted in favor of Republicans.

Democrats know they are up against the clock. Whatever path they choose, the damage may already have been done.