Clock ticking on Biden as pressure to quit grows

The walls appear to be closing in on Joe Biden.

Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer and Adam Schiff are about as influential as you can get within the Democratic party.

According to multiple reports in US media, all of them have advised the president that he should end his bid for re-election.

There are also reports that Barack Obama, the former president and party grandee, has told allies that Mr Biden’s path to victory is greatly diminished, and that he needed to seriously consider his candidacy.

While not all of the names above have publicly called for Mr Biden to step down, it is notable that neither have they directly denied the claims made in the US media.

Ms Pelosi in particular is a battle-scarred politician who plays a good game of 3D chess.

She doesn’t want to be accused of disloyalty to the president she admires but equally doesn’t want to be seen as complicit if Democrats suffer huge losses under Mr Biden in November’s election.

The New York Times, external reported that Mr Schumer was shown data from a top Democratic fundraising committee that alarmed him – the president is trailing behind in the must-win states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Many analysts believe Mr Biden’s path to victory lies through this area of the country. There’s also some evidence that Nevada, Georgia and Arizona could be slipping away.

President Biden himself has revised his view on what it would take for him to bow to the growing pressure.

He has gone from stating “only the Lord Almighty” could make him stand down, to telling BET (Black Entertainment Television) that he would re-evaluate his campaign if his doctor diagnosed him with a medical condition.

Then he announced he had Covid.

While he’s had the illness before, the latest infection has exacerbated the ongoing concerns about his age, health and fragility.

To now get “general malaise”, as the doctors put it, is not a great look for a leader many Americans already worry is past it.