Biden close to withdrawing, 4 candidates compete to succeed him

US President Joe Biden is close to making a decision to withdraw from the presidential race, according to leaks confirming that the Democratic Party is currently discussing options for the next stage.

Sources told Al Jazeera that initial discussions within the Democratic Party suggest that President Joe Biden will issue a call for an open competition at the party’s upcoming conference.

The sources explained that discussions by some Democrats are pushing for 3 candidates in addition to Vice President Kamala Harris, including California Governor Gavin Newsom.

The New York Times quoted a person close to Biden as saying that although the US president has not yet made a decision regarding withdrawing from the presidential race, it would not be surprising if he soon announced his support for Harris as an alternative candidate.

For its part, the Washington Post reported, citing 3 officials in the Democratic Party, that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi informed some Democrats in the House that she believes that President Joe Biden can soon be persuaded to withdraw from the presidential race.

The newspaper said that Pelosi believes that Biden is about to make a decision to abandon his attempt to be re-elected as president of the country.

Obama’s position
The Washington Post confirmed that former US President Barack Obama told people close to him that Biden should reconsider his candidacy for a second presidential term, and quoted people familiar with Obama’s position as saying that he believes that Biden’s chances of winning have diminished and that he should “seriously reconsider the possibility of continuing his candidacy.”In turn, Reuters quoted sources it described as informed that Biden is seriously considering calls to withdraw from the candidacy, and confirmed that officials in the Democratic Party believe that his exit from the competition is a matter of time.

The Wall Street Journal confirmed that senior Democratic officials are discussing the next steps if Biden withdraws from the presidential elections.

Biden, 81, is facing mounting pressure from senior Democratic figures to drop out of the race after a poor debate performance against Republican rival former President Donald Trump raised concerns about his age and ability to win the November election.

The president has defied those calls, saying he has won millions of votes in the primaries over the past months and is the choice of Democratic voters, but has not ruled out dropping out if he has a health emergency.

Biden is recovering from COVID-19 at his beach home in Delaware. He did not hold any public events on Thursday after wrapping up a trip to the politically swing state of Nevada on Wednesday.