Democrats meet behind closed doors to talk about Biden: It felt like a 'funeral'

Amid doubts about President Biden's mental health and pressure to withdraw from the presidential campaign, Democratic congressmen and senators held meetings this Tuesday, July 9, behind closed doors to discuss the future of the campaign and their positions on the president. The result: chaos in the party, weak support for the president, and apparent concern among lawmakers that the issue will hurt their careers.

The representatives' meeting was held in the morning and lasted two hours. According to reports, they were not allowed to have their phones and were advised not to talk to the media about it. At the exit, a tide of questions awaited the Democrats, but the journalists were ignored by some congressmen who do not want to be affected, at election time, by the situation that the president is going through.

Rep. Steve Cohen gave a brief but revealing statement. When asked if the party was on the same page, he said, "We're not even in the same book." Rep. Lori Trahan said after the meeting: “While President Biden has made clear he feels he is the best candidate to win this election, nothing that has happened over the past twelve days suggests that voters see things the same way.”

Meanwhile, a representative who spoke on condition of anonymity with NPR said the meeting felt like a "funeral" and that much of the time was spent talking about the difficult situation this represents for congressmen. It's not just about the presidency; the House and Senate are also at stake.

Other congressmen assured that most of those who spoke at the meeting support the president. Rep. Hank Johnson said, “There were differences of opinion expressed, but we’re all unified in the fact that we can’t allow Donald Trump to regain the White House.”

While only a handful of congressmen have so far publicly asked the president to step aside, most lawmakers simply seem to be hiding from the media to avoid giving public statements. Even those who support the president are doing so cautiously and without elaborating too much. 

In the afternoon, Democratic representatives held a press conference to discuss the morning meeting, and surprisingly, much of the statements, instead of focusing on Biden, were directed at Trump. Congressman Pete Aguilar said the party is united to defeat Trump and expanded on what he considers "threats to democracy." When it came time for questions, when pressed by reporters on whether there is strong support for the president, the answer was pretty lame. Aguilar said that "right now," Biden is the nominee, and congressmen support the party's nominee.

Congressional Democrats are stuck in a problem of their own making. With the election only months away and with Biden, a landslide winner in the primaries, it is virtually impossible to change the nominee. Even a couple of representatives have publicly acknowledged that this issue should have been addressed months ago. Sadly, many lawmakers even went out of their way to cover up for the president and the health problems that are now evident to all Americans.

Few congressmen have so far asked the president publicly to step down, but that does not mean that Biden has strong support but, instead, that there is an atmosphere of resignation, or "funeral," in the face of a situation that does not seem to have a way out. The next few days will be decisive for the future of the presidential race, although at this point, it appears that the party has resigned itself to the fact that no matter how poorly the president performs, there is no other option.