Barack Obama has told allies he's concerned about Joe Biden's reelection chances, The Washington Post reported.
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President Joe Biden may have lost the support of the man he once served as vice president: Barack Obama.
Former president Obama — a major heavyweight in the Democratic party — has been telling his close allies in the past few days that he believes Biden's chances of defeating Donald Trump this November are increasingly slim, and that Biden should seriously reconsider the future of his campaign, according to a new report from The Washington Post that cited people familiar with the conversations.
Reports last week suggested that Biden feared Obama was quietly supporting — or at least not objecting to — the Democratic push to oust Joe Biden, but things appear to have escalated in recent days.
In some private conversations with his allies, Obama has expressed concern that donors are deserting the president and that recent polls have shown he is losing favor among voters, according to the Post's report.
Obama has also privately said, the Post reported, that while he believes Biden has done a great job as president, his accomplishments may be washed away if he fails to win the White House and if Democrats fail to secure a majority in Congress this election.
And just like Nancy Pelosi, another majorly influential party leader, Obama has been meeting with Democrats behind the scenes to discuss their doubts about Biden's ability to win the election and serve out another four years, the Post reported.
Obama and Pelosi have even reportedly spoken with each other to share their worries that Biden's campaign may be a lost cause.
But despite growing anxiety about Biden's reelection chances, Biden has remained fervently committed to continuing his campaign.
When reached for comment, a representative for Biden's campaign directed BI toward a statement from his principal deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks.
"Look, I talk to the president every day like I said," Fulks said at a press conference from Milwaukee on Thursday morning. "He is not wavering on anything. The president has made his decision. I don't want to be rude, but I don't know how many more times we can answer that. Joe Biden has said he is running for President of the United States."
"There are no plans being made to replace President Biden on the ballot and President Biden is cognizant this is a margin of error race," Fulks continued. "Folks are acting like before the debate we somehow said this was going to be a landslide victory for Democrats. We have always said this race was going to be close."
Biden has long been expected to win his party's formal nomination at the Democratic National Convention in August. A plan to have Biden nominated sooner was shelved after Democratic lawmakers publicly trashed the idea.
