Amid calls for him to step down as the Democratic presidential nominee after his disastrous performance in the debate against former President Donald Trump a week ago, President Joe Biden has reportedly been asking allies what he can do to shore up support for him to continue with his re-election bid.

According to The Wall Street Journal, in the two days prior to Independence Day, Biden has contacted numerous allies in Congress to persuade them that he should withdraw from the nomination. Additionally, on Wednesday evening Biden met with roughly two dozen Democratic governors. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said, “We were honest about the feedback that we were getting. We were honest about the concerns that we’re hearing,” adding, “We said we would stand with him.”

On Wednesday, Biden reportedly told his campaign staff, “Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can—and as simply and straightforward as I can. I am running. I’m the nominee of the Democratic Party. No one’s pushing me out. I’m not leaving.”

Yet numerous polls show Trump’s lead over Biden soared to six percentage points in the wake of their debate.

Delaware Democrat Sen. Chris Coons said that when he spoke to Biden on Tuesday, Biden asked him, “How do you rebuild confidence?” Coons said he advised Biden to conduct an unscripted event such as a town hall “where the average American can just see his engagement and agility and capacity.”

“The campaign has come off as extremely arrogant in the way it has responded to legitimate questions about President Biden’s capacity as a candidate. Calling us bed-wetters or Davos Democrats is out of bounds,” Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) asserted, adding, “This campaign damn well better tell us how they expect to win it—if they don’t tell me that this week, call me back next week.”

A few Democrat House members have called for Biden to step down, including Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas and Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona.

Former Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), irritated that Biden supporters decided to “dig in and ask everybody to pretend like we didn’t see what we saw,” is pushing the idea of Biden stepping down so he can be replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris. He says, “We have a great candidate. She’s done a phenomenal job. I think she’d be attractive to a lot of working-class people in the middle-class Midwest once they get to know her.”

Democrats are privately in agreement that President Joe Biden should be replaced after his poor performance during last week’s presidential debate, according to former Obama administration official Van Jones.

Jones, a CNN political commentator, said on the network that Democrats are privately discussing how, not whether, to replace Biden as the Democratic Party’s nominee for president. 

“Behind the scenes, it’s full-scale panic. People are passing around legal memos, PDFs are flying back and forth on WhatsApp, trying to figure out what are the options?” Jones said on Wednesday. “How can you replace Biden? How do you get him to do it in a way where he feels respected, as he should be respected? Who should Kamala Harris’ vice president be? The conversation on air and the conversation off air are completely different.”

“We have someone who loves this country. We have someone who has given his all – I mean, his all, to the last drop – for this country, but he may not be able to get across the finish line,” Jones said of the president. “A mature party has to take that into account, and that is what’s happening. I understand people want to, you know, defend him and protect him and give him the space and the dignity to make his own choice. But there is a big conversation happening right now about how this happens – not whether.”

Van Jones on CNN: “Behind the scenes, it’s full scale panic. People are passing around legal memos trying to figure out what are the options. How can you replace Biden? The conversation on air and the conversation off air are completely different.” pic.twitter.com/umvvvgVD7b

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) July 4, 2024

Biden is facing growing calls to step aside as the Democratic Party’s nominee for president. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first Democrat in Congress to publicly call for Biden to drop out of the race on Tuesday, followed shortly after by Arizona Rep. Raúl Grijalva, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee.

“What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race,” Grijalva told The New York Times.

Biden has repeatedly insisted that he is staying in the race. In an interview with a Milwaukee radio show on Wednesday, the president brushed off his feeble performance in last week’s presidential debate.

“I had a bad night,” Biden said. “And the fact of the matter is that I screwed up. I made a mistake. That’s 90 minutes onstage – look at what I’ve done in three and a half years.”