2024 election updates: Manchin the latest to call on Biden to end reelection bid

More Democrats called for Biden to bow out of the race.

Last Updated: July 21, 2024, 9:06 AM EDT

President Joe Biden faced a critical point in his reelection bid as Democratic calls for him to exit the 2024 race continued to mount despite his efforts to shut them down.

A poor debate performance against Donald Trump in June reignited questions about Biden's age and fitness to carry out his campaign and serve another four years. While Biden defiantly insisted he was staying the course, he later announced on July 21 that he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.

Click here for the latest live updates on the 2024 election.

Jul 10, 2024, 5:45 PM EDT

Newsom says he won't challenge Harris, reiterates support for Biden

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was again asked about the future of President Biden's campaign and whether he'd challenge Vice President Kamala Harris if she took the ticket during a news conference on the ongoing wildfires Wednesday.

Newsom stood by comments he made in 2023 when he said he would not run against Harris.

The governor reiterated that he is still backing Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Gavin Newsom, Democratic candidate for governor of California and Senator Kamala Harris during a rally in Burbank, Calif., May 30, 2018.
Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

"I think I’ve had 100 media outlets asking the same question, and I think that I’ve amply answered my support for the president and the support I saw on the ground was demonstrable," he said.

Newsom said he didn't read the full comments that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave on MSNBC where she said, "It's up to the president to decide if he is going to run."

He also said he had not read George Clooney's New York Times op-ed that called on Biden to bow out.

Jul 10, 2024, 4:46 PM EDT

Morale 'very low' at White House as staff frustrated by Clooney op-ed: Source

Morale "is very low in the building," a person who works regularly with senior level White House staff told ABC News Wednesday.

Some in President Joe Biden's inner circle, including senior adviser Anita Dunn and chief of staff Jeff Zients, are said to be very frustrated and upset by George Clooney’s op-ed in the New York Times in which he calls on Biden to step aside, the source said.

The donor class is also deeply divided, a Democratic adviser told ABC News.

Although small donations continue to pour in and the very largest donors are doubling down, the huge swath of donors in the middle are holding back, according to the adviser. That group of donors, which gives anywhere from five to eight figures, are on pause, which is very damaging since they’re a major part of the donor ecosystem, the adviser said.

This adviser adds that the hand-wringing in the meantime has been very harmful to the campaign.

Another Democratic fundraiser says while a strong performance at the solo press conference Thursday could help the situation, many donors believe the crisis around Biden just won’t go away.

The doubts raised by members of Congress, the comments from Nancy Pelosi, and the op-ed from George Clooney are all fueling a flurry of discussions among donors about what to do if Biden drops out.

-ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang

Jul 10, 2024, 4:14 PM EDT

Some Congressional Black Caucus members back Biden

Several Congressional Black Caucus members expressed their support for the president as the Democratic nominee following their weekly meeting Wednesday.

"I’m going to work very hard for him," Rep. Maxine Waters. a California Democrat, told ABC News. "I think he’s kept all his promises and I am very very supportive."

Waters and Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, emphasized their prior endorsements of the president’s reelection bid and support Biden's decision to stay in the race.

"I do not think he should step aside," Green said. "And I think the president has said he is not stepping aside, so I think that counts too doesn’t it."

Rep. Cori Bush D-Miss., however, did not give a full-throated endorsement but emphasized she wants to beat Trump in November.

When ask if Biden can defeat the former president, Bush told ABC News, "that is a question for Joe Biden."

"I can’t speak to that. It’s up to the president," she added.

-ABC News' Arthur Jones II and Rachel Scott

Jul 10, 2024, 3:53 PM EDT

Jeffries plans to relay Democrats concerns directly to Biden

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has told colleagues in private meetings that he plans to relay concerns about President Biden's campaign -- voiced by House Democrats -- personally to the president, multiple people familiar with his comments told. ABC News.

Jeffries has been huddling with Democrats from across the ideological spectrum this week to hear their worries about the presidential election and their own down-ballot races following Biden’s poor debate performance and his interview with ABC News.

-ABC News' Ben Siegel