President Biden’s catastrophic performance at last week’s debate has sparked panic among the Democratic Party’s hierarchy, with key players said to be mulling how to get him to abandon his re-election bid.

The situation has plunged the party into crisis and threatens to drive a wedge between Biden loyalists and elected officials in swing districts ahead of next month’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 

Biden’s top campaign aides have been working damage control with major donors over the past week, while the White House — and Biden himself — remain adamant he is the right man to lead the party against former President Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee.

BIDEN RESISTS MOUNTING PRESSURE TO STEP ASIDE

Democrats who say Biden should drop out

• Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas: “I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. I respectfully call on him to do so.”
• Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz.: “I’m going to support [Biden], but I think that this is an opportunity to look elsewhere … What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility of keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race.”
• Adam Frisch, candidate for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District: “I thank President Biden for his years of service, but the path ahead requires a new generation of leadership to take our country forward.”

Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., on Wednesday became the second Capitol Hill Democrat to call on President Biden to exit the race. (Getty Images)

VAN JONES SAYS DEMOCRATS NOW PLANNING ON ‘HOW’ TO REPLACE BIDEN WITH HARRIS

Democrats who have raised concerns 

• Former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.: “I think it’s a legitimate question to say, ‘Is this an episode or is this a condition?’ When people ask that question, it’s completely legitimate of both candidates.”
• Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez, D-Wash.: “About 50 million Americans tuned in and watched that debate. I was one of them for about five very painful minutes. We all saw what we saw, you can’t undo that, and the truth, I think, is that Biden is going to lose to Trump.”
• Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine: “In 2025, I believe Trump is going to be in the White House. Maine’s representatives will need to work with him when it benefits Mainers, hold him accountable when it does not and work independently across the aisle no matter what.”
• Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa.: “Maybe folks don’t want to hear, but we have timing that is running out. Time is not on our side. We have a few months to do a monumental task. It’s not cheap and it’s not easy. If our president decides this is not a pathway forward for him, we have to move very quickly. There’s not going to be time for a primary. That time is past. The vice president is the obvious choice. She’s sitting right there.”
• Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass: “I deeply respect President Biden and all the great things he has done for America, but I have grave concerns about his ability to defeat Donald Trump.”
• Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C.: “I do know this: I think that the American people want an explanation; they need to be reassured, and I hope that over the next several days, we’ll do that.”
• Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill.: “I think we gotta be honest with ourselves, this wasn’t just one bad debate performance. There are very real concerns, and you have to take the voters for where they are, not where you want them to be.”
• Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt.: “I really do criticize the campaign for a dismissive attitude towards people who are raising questions for discussion. That’s just facing the reality that we’re in.”
• Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.: “I think like a lot of people, I was pretty horrified by the debate… I think people want to make sure that this is a campaign that’s ready to go and win, that the president and his team are being candid with us about his condition — that this was a real anomaly and not just the way he is these days.”

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., expressed concerns about Biden’s health on MSNBC.

Democrats who support Biden as nominee

Twenty-three Democratic governors from across the nation descended on the White House on Wednesday evening to meet with the embattled president, but after the gathering, only Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who leads the Democratic Governors Association, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore spoke to reporters to express their support. 

Moore described the meeting with Biden as “honest” and “candid” and said that the governors were “going to have his back.”

Hochul said President Biden was “in it to win it” and that the trio had pledged their support to him “because the stakes could not be higher,” invoking on the eve of Independence Day, the fight against tyranny.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who many commentators have proposed as a possible Biden replacement, also took part in the White House meeting and backed the 81-year-old. 

“I heard three words from the President tonight — he’s all in. And so am I,” Newsom posted on X on Wednesday night. Newsom also publicly backed Biden immediately following the debate. 

“You don’t turn your back because of one performance,” Newsom said after the debate. “What kind of party does that? This president has delivered. We need to deliver for him at this moment.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to reporters after the presidential debate. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker has also publicly backed Biden, as has Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and Hawaii Gov. Josh Green. 

Elsewhere, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a longtime Biden ally, has also expressed his support, as well as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

“A setback is nothing more than a setup for a comeback,” Jeffries posted to X on Saturday.

Fox News’ Kyle Morris contributed to this report. 

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Even in the heart of the most Biden-loving parts of Los Angeles County, the president is facing grumbles after his resounding failure of a performance at last week’s debate.

“Biden needs to go sit down, have his medication and take a nap. His time is up,” said Daisy Williams, who voted for Biden in 2020 but said she wouldn’t participate in November’s election after watching last week’s debate. “I’ve never seen something so crazy in my life. We in trouble … That debate was a joke.”

Biden’s debate performance — in which he delivered meandering, sometimes incoherent thoughts in a weak, raspy voice — has shaken among even the most ardent Democrats. While the party shuddered and its leaders hastily began arguing over whether to replace the incumbent president on the ticket, voters in the deepest blue parts of Los Angeles County mulled Biden’s future, too.

California — and Los Angeles County in particular, which supported Biden by 71% in 2020 — is a sea of support for the president. But some precincts in Inglewood and South Central L.A. are even bluer, delivering more than 94% support for the president in the 2020 election.

In a series of informal interviews, some residents in these areas said they’d stand by the president, while others said he should let someone else take on former President Trump in November, perhaps Vice President Kamala Harris.

In the West Athens neighborhood south of Inglewood, where one precinct’s support for Biden reached 95% in 2020, Williams expressed dismay at her options for president. If Biden stepped aside, she said she’d reconsider her decision not to vote.

The 65-year-old certified nurse’s assistant called the election a choice between “a criminal and a person that has dementia.”

Biden does not have any form of dementia, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said in a press briefing Tuesday.

Biden has not publicly wavered from his commitment to running for reelection, though he has reportedly been discussing whether to step aside with his closest family members and advisors.

A CNN poll released Tuesday showed that 56% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning registered voters think their party would have a better chance at winning the election with a candidate other than Biden. The first polls released since the debate show Trump beating Biden.

But Daniel Rodriguez, a Democrat who voted for Biden in 2020 and plans to again in November, was unfazed by Biden’s shaky debate performance.

“I did see that, but I just think he has a lot of things on his mind,” Rodriguez said. “He’s overwhelmed.”

As a caregiver for people between 50 and 90 years old, Rodriguez, 50, said his job is to advocate for the elderly and “have 100% their back.” His work, Rodriguez said, has shown him that some older adults remain sharp mentally even if they don’t always express themselves well.

“I see people who really had a good head on their shoulders — they still got it going on, they’re still smart,” he said. “So [do] not give up on them, you know? … They have a say-so in this country.”

Janice Gatlin, 66, had the opposite reaction to the debate. She said she kept trying to turn away from the TV screen and Biden’s spectacular failure, but couldn’t stop looking and sat through the whole “upsetting” performance.

“Biden, he’s just at that age where it’s time to retire. Because he was lost! I was embarrassed for him. It hurt me, because I voted for him,” she said. Harris, she added, would be a good alternate. “Time for her to step up,” Gatlin said.

Biden made a handful of public appearances after the debate, including a lively speech he gave the following day at a rally in North Carolina. Critics said he appeared more energetic because he relied on a teleprompter. But for Gatlin, it didn’t matter — the president’s debate performance, she said, showed he is no longer fit for office.

“He needs to step down and think about the country,” Gatlin said, adding that other countries are watching the U.S. election. “Nobody’s scared of him. He’s not even talking loud — no bass in his voice, nothing.”

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(Faith Pinho/Los Angeles Times)

For Antinya Walker, 19, who says she will be voting in her first presidential election this fall, the debate made her pick simple: She’s voting for Trump.

The Los Angeles resident, who was running an errand to a local Big Lots, said she believed Biden was against women’s rights. She blamed him for tightened abortion restrictions across the country — though Trump takes credit for appointing the conservative Supreme Court justices who led to Roe vs. Wade being overturned, undoing nationwide abortion access.

Abortion is widely seen as Democrats’ winning ticket in elections. But last Thursday, Biden struggled to articulate a clear vision for restoring abortion care access in the country, instead making a confusing metaphor to a pregnancy’s trimesters and bungling the Democrats’ key issue. Walker said she stopped watching the debate after hearing Biden’s “horrible” response to the question.

“How are we supposed to have faith in a president that can’t even communicate right?” Walker said. “I feel like Trump is our best bet right now. I pray for America.”

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(Faith Pinho/Los Angeles Times)

Still, in this bluest part of L.A. County, Biden retains supporters, folks like Harvey Woodruff, a retired grocery store and security worker.

“He looked a little fatigued. The man’s on the job, what do you expect?” Woodruff said. He said he’s grateful for Biden’s running of the economy in the past four years. “Two thumbs up, excellent job. I see no reason why we cannot have him in there for another term.”

Trump presents a greater threat to the country’s democracy, Woodruff said, adding that he expected Trump would pardon his own criminal conviction if he were elected president.

The 67-year-old was riding his bike from his Inglewood neighborhood, where 95% of votes went for Biden in 2020, to Darby Park, on his way to meet a friend at the beach. After watching Biden’s difficulty at the debate, Woodruff said he was reminded to have a checkup with his doctor.

As Americans celebrate freedom nationwide on July 4, some of those charged with preserving that liberty are still living in squalor months after a damning Government Accountability Office report exposed some of the worst conditions, several lawmakers said in a letter to Army brass.

A dozen lawmakers demanded the military branch take swifter action at its stateside bases, including North Carolina’s sprawling Fort Liberty; formerly Fort Bragg.

Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., whose district includes the 250-square-mile installation, led a recent letter calling on Army Secretary Christine Wormuth to fix “completely unacceptable” conditions, while acknowledging some, however insufficient, progress has been made.

“We need to know whether the Army is doing all it can to quickly implement effective solutions to improve housing conditions like we’ve seen at Fort Liberty/Fort Bragg,” Hudson separately told Fox News Digital.

TROOPS PLAGUED BY FILTHY CONDITIONS, SQUATTERS IN MILITARY BARRACKS: REPORT

“Not only is better quality housing key to help meet recruitment and retention goals, it is critical to ensuring our military’s readiness.” 

The letter, addressed to Wormuth, three generals and a sergeant major, demanded “swift action” to address “substandard indoor environmental conditions” they consider major health risks.

“[They] are contributing to long-term chronic illnesses and growing liabilities. These living environments have become a detriment to our recruiting and retention, as well as the readiness and resiliency of our warfighters,” Hudson wrote along with Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., and Greg Pence, R-Ind., brother of the former vice president.

Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, Don Bacon, R-Neb., Brian Mast, R-Fla., August Pfluger, R-Texas, Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., Pat Fallon, R-Texa,s and Dan Bishop, R-N.C., were also party to the letter.

The letter cited a 2023 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on hazardous conditions at 12 unnamed military installations. The report included photos appearing to show feces spilling over the floor of a restroom, water-damaged ceilings and clumps of black mold. 

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Official GAO photo shows squalid conditions in stateside U.S. military barracks. (GAO)

At the time, the GAO determined Pentagon officials had not been able to provide proper oversight and left solutions up to each military branch to rectify.

The timing of the June 24 letter, published on Tuesday by Hudson, suggested some of the issues and evidence in the report had not been properly addressed.

However, the lawmakers added the Pentagon made some progress in its “Strategy for Resilient & Healthy Defense Communities” program, including public commitments to meet external health certification requirements for air, humidity, light and water.

The letter cited corrective actions taken at Fort George G. Meade near Columbia, Maryland, in that regard, lawmakers said.

Smucker said military families in his Lancaster-area district directly expressed to him their concerns about the matter.

He said military families there told him they found the conditions “appalling,” while adding there is no excuse for such “substandard and dangerous” environs.

“The Department of Defense must act without delay to respond to our concerns,” Smucker said.

Fitzpatrick, a former counterintelligence specialist who was embedded with U.S. special forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom, said Wednesday there is no greater calling than military service and that soldiers deserve better.

“Especially at a time when there are people illegally crossing our border and being housed in luxury accommodations, it is of the utmost importance that we make our military families a priority,” Fitzpatrick said.

In the letter, the lawmakers demanded Army officials specify what actions they will take with remaining 2024 funding to address the issues, and asked what is preventing timely health-related upgrades on-base. They also asked for plans to use empirical standards and benchmarks to ensure future progress.

In response to lawmakers’ concerns, a U.S. Army spokesperson agreed enlisted men and women deserve safe, high-quality barracks.

“Army senior leaders are committed to continuing to improve barracks conditions through concrete actions to ensure a living experience that enhances well-being, readiness, recruitment, and retention,” Matt Ahearn said.

Ahearn added Army officials plan to respond directly to the lawmakers.

Fox News’ Michael Lee contributed to this report.