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2024 election live updates: Bernie Sanders calls on Dems 'to stop the bickering'

Sanders expressed his support for Biden in a New York Times guest essay.

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

A poor debate performance against Donald Trump reignited questions about Biden's age and fitness to carry out his campaign and serve another four years. Biden has defiantly insisted he is staying the course, telling lawmakers this week he is not going anywhere.

Biden held his first news conference since the debate Thursday evening -- taking multiple questions about his political future.


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More House Democrats signal doubt on Biden

New York Rep. Ritchie Torres posted a statement on X Thursday expressing more doubts about Biden's viability on the presidential ticket.

Torres, who represents the Bronx, said the president "simply had one bad debate performance reflects a continuing pattern of denial and self-delusion

"The notion that the President is going to be saved by this interview or that press conference misses the forest for trees," he said.

Ohio Rep. Greg Landsman said he is inching "close and closer" to calling on Biden to step aside in an interview Thursday on CNN.

"It's becoming increasingly likely that this is, this may be just too high of a hill for him to climb," he said.

Landsman said Biden's letter to congressional Democrats on Monday did not help.

"The question is about the future of the country," he added.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller


Biden campaign lays out path forward in new internal memo

The Biden campaign is laying out what it sees as its path forward to Joe Biden winning reelection in a new memo shared internally with campaign staff on Thursday by Jen O'Malley Dillon and Julie Chavez Rodriguez, a source familiar with the campaign told ABC News.

The memo, first reported by the AP, acknowledges anxieties but claims they still have "multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes."

The memo was revealed after Democrats had demanded Biden and his campaign show how it planned to win despite Biden's poor poll numbers.

The campaign said it will focus on winning the “blue wall” states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, and believes that the "sunbelt states are not out of reach."

The memo states the race remains a margin-of-error race in key battleground states, despite calls for Biden to step down citing internal data.

-ABC News' Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow and Will McDuffie


Senators discuss upcoming briefing by top Biden campaign officials

Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. spoke with ABC News Thursday morning about Thursday's scheduled lunch between Democratic senators and top Biden campaign officials.

Welch, who is, so far, the only Democratic senator to call for Biden to step aside, said the path forward involved the president persuading voters, not advisers persuading senators.

"It's a show me not tell me issue. I think for Americans it's not so much about individual senators or members of Congress," Welch said. "It's really about the challenge of everyday campaign."

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., told ABC News he's putting a bit more weight into Thursday's meeting with the Biden officials.

"We are very interested to hear how they make their case," he said.

-ABC News' Rachel Scott and Allison Pecorin


10th House Democrat calls on Biden to step aside

Michigan Rep. Hillary Scholten has added her name to the growing list of House Democrats who are calling on Biden to end his presidential election bid.

The congresswoman said in a statement posted on X Thursday that it "is essential that we have the strongest possible candidate leading the top of the ticket -- not just to win, but to govern."

"The people of Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District elected me to represent them with integrity. They elected a Congresswoman they trust to speak the truth, even when it’s hard. They voted for someone who would put America's future first and stand up for what is right. That's what I am doing now," Scholten, who represents Grand Rapids, said.

She is the 10th sitting House Democrat to call for Biden to step aside.

Scholten noted that if Biden stayed in the race, she would "respect his decision," and still vote for him.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller