Pressure is building on Biden to step aside. But many Democrats feel powerless to replace him

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bernie Sanders describes President Joe Biden's recent debate performance as “painful.” In an interview, he says he's not confident that Biden can win this fall.

But the progressive senator from Vermont does not want Biden to step aside.

Instead, Sanders, who served as Biden's chief rival in the Democratic Party's 2020 nomination fight, is calling on voters to adopt “a maturity” as they view their options this fall.

“A presidential election is not a Grammy Award contest for the best singer or entertainer. It’s about who has the best policies that impact our lives," Sanders said. “I'm going to do everything I can to see that Biden gets reelected.”

That's putting the best face on it. Nearly a week after Biden’s disastrous debate performance, questions about his ability to remain in the race are intensifying among concerned Democrats. But there is also a growing sense that the party has trapped itself in a bad situation with no clear solution, caught in a primary process set up to protect Biden with elected officials unwilling to say out loud what some say quietly.

Some allies, like Sanders, are acknowledging Biden's problems but contrasting his policies and record with those of Republican Donald Trump. But many donors, strategists and party insiders want Biden to suspend his reelection campaign to avoid what they see as certain defeat come November.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas on Tuesday became the first House Democrat to call for the president to withdraw, saying “too much is at stake” for Biden to stay in the race and lose to Trump.

“He has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of leaders from whom a nominee can be chosen to unite our country through an open, democratic process,” Doggett said in a written statement. “My decision to make these strong reservations public is not done lightly nor does it in any way diminish my respect for all that President Biden has achieved.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told MSNBC that she believes “it is a legitimate question” whether Biden’s halting performance is just “an episode or is this a condition.”

“When people ask that question, it’s legitimate — of both candidates,” Pelosi said.

Pelosi said she had not spoken with Biden since the debate, but she emphasized that the president is on “top of his game, in terms of knowing the issues and what is at stake.”

In private, people close to would-be Biden replacements — including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Vice President Kamala Harris — are having informal conversations about potential next steps should Biden abruptly change course and step aside.

Such conversations include talk of potential running mates, according to donors involved in the discussions. Names of potential vice presidential nominees that have surfaced include Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and California Rep. Ro Khanna.

Every one of the officials on such lists has publicly pledged support for Biden in recent days. And ever defiant, Biden’s team has downplayed the president’s political problems in a series of memos and private meetings with donors, strategists and party insiders.

“The voters are powerless,” said Nina Turner, a national co-chair of Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign, who now fears the Democratic Party cannot win again with Biden as the nominee. “The decision rests solely with him.”

Amid such frustration, key groups in Biden's political coalition — who had shown signs of fraying even before the debate — have begun to turn against each other.

Tim Miller, a prominent Biden supporter who once worked for Republican political campaigns, has come under attack in recent days from pro-Biden activists. They posted pictures of his family on social media after he raised concerns about Biden's general election prospects.

In an interview, however, Miller said elected Democrats privately tell him that they share his concerns.

"For me, the only risk right now is everyone shutting up and getting in line," Miller said. “It's the right time to have an open conversation about what the path forward is. Otherwise, we’re on a trajectory for another Donald Trump presidency.”

A handful of leading Republicans from the “Never Trump” camp met privately Monday with Biden campaign officials to encourage the president to leave the race.

The Biden campaign issued a memo over the weekend claiming he had lost little support after the debate. A separate internal memo also argued that he would retain the support of many voters who had a negative reaction to his primetime performance.

A CNN poll conducted by SSRS after the debate found that Biden’s favorability rating hasn’t shifted meaningfully, nor has the share of Americans who say they will vote for him in November. However, three-quarters of U.S. voters — and more than half of Democratic voters — say the Democratic Party would have a better chance of winning the presidency with someone else at the top of the ticket.

At the same time, the president's campaign announced on Tuesday a massive fundraising haul for the month of June. Overall, the campaign raised $127 million last month, including $33 million on the day of the debate and in its aftermath, according to the campaign. The numbers cannot be verified until federal filings are posted later in the month.

Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison made clear Tuesday that the party's rules leave no room for a Plan B.

Biden secured almost every delegate in the state-by-state primary process this spring. They are pledged by party rules to “in all good conscience” reflect the desires of voters who chose Biden. A virtual roll call vote to formalize Biden's status as the nominee is expected weeks before the party's national convention.

“The primary is over, and in every state, the will of Democratic voters was clear: Joe Biden will be the Democratic Party’s nominee for president," Harrison told The Associated Press. "Delegates are pledged to reflect voters’ sentiment, and over 99% of delegates are already pledged to Joe Biden headed into our convention.”

But Biden’s allies in key states across the country acknowledge the fear spreading through their party ranks.

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said she's worked to calm concerns about Biden's mental acuity by sharing her personal experiences.

“I have been in close-quarter meetings and conversations and interactions with the president where we’re able to talk high policy initiatives but also been able to just have a general conversation, like you’re talking to your neighbor,” Fried said. "There’s never been a time that I have questioned his abilities to run this country and to put forth the type of energy and coalition that will be necessary to win in November.”

Michigan Democratic Party chair Lavora Barnes said she spoke with volunteers Monday night and “yes they asked questions” about Biden’s debate performance. But “we need to focus our talks with our voters on the work that the president’s done in contrast with Donald Trump," she said.

Vermont Democratic Sen. Peter Welch conceded that Biden's debate performance intensified questions about the president's age, which are on the minds of “everyday voters” and even “extremely energetic Biden supporters."

“Within the Biden campaign they’re acutely aware of it,” Welch said in an interview. “I thought it was a mistake for the Biden campaign to be critical of people who started asking questions the campaign itself is asking.”

Meanwhile, Vermont's other senator, Sanders, conceded that Biden's path to reelection will not be easy.

“I wasn’t confident he could win before the debate,” Sanders told the AP. “What we need on the part of the American people is a maturity right now — and that is to understand that what is important are the issues. And the difference between Trump and Biden: day and night.”

Cappelletti reported from Lansing, Michigan. Associated Press writer Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux in Washington contributed to this report.

President Joe Biden listens during a visit to the D.C. Emergency Operations Center, Tuesday, July 2, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — For the first time in decades, Venezuela's self-described socialist government is facing a serious electoral challenge in a presidential election.

President Nicolás Maduro, now in his 11th year in office, is being challenged by former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia at the head of a resurgent opposition, as well as a field of eight other candidates. The official campaign period for the July 28 election kicked off Thursday.

Maduro, who's presided over an economic collapse that's seen millions of people emigrate, has fended off previous challenges by barring rivals from elections — including opposition powerhouse Maria Corina Machado — and painting them as out-of-touch elitists in league with foreign powers.

This time, he promised to let the Unitary Platform party participate in elections in a deal that brought some relief from crippling U.S. sanctions. That relief, however, was short-lived as the U.S. reimposed sanctions amid mounting government actions against the opposition.

Here's what to know about Venezuela's upcoming presidential election.

The most talked-about name in the race isn't on the ballot: Maria Corina Machado, a former lawmaker, emerged as an opposition star in 2023, filling the void left when a previous generation of opposition leaders went into exile. Her principled attacks on government corruption and mismanagement rallied millions of Venezuelans to vote for her in the opposition’s October primary.

But Maduro's government declared the primary was against the law and opened criminal investigations against some of its organizers. Since then, it has issued warrants for a number of Machado's supporters and arrested some members of her staff, and the country's top court affirmed a decision to keep her off the ballot.

Yet, she kept on campaigning, holding rallies across the country and turning the ban on her candidacy into a symbol of the loss of rights and humiliations that many voters have felt for over a decade.

She's thrown her support behind Edmundo González Urrutia, a former ambassador who's never held public office, helping a fractious opposition unify behind him.

They are campaigning together promising an economy that will lure back the millions of Venezuelans who have migrated since Maduro became president in 2013. At rallies, supporters with tears in their eyes have held signs pleading for the return of loved ones.

González began his diplomatic career as an aide to Venezuela’s ambassador in the U.S. in the late 1970s. He had postings in Belgium and El Salvador and served as Caracas’ ambassador to Algeria. His last post was as ambassador to Argentina during the first years of Hugo Chávez’s presidency, which began in 1999.

More recently, González worked as an international relations consultant and wrote a historical work on Venezuela during World War II.

President Nicolás Maduro’s popularity has dwindled due to an economic crisis that resulted from a drop in oil prices, corruption and government mismanagement.

Maduro can still bank on a cadre of die-hard believers, known as Chavistas, including millions of public employees and others whose businesses or employment depend on the state. But the ability of his United Socialist Party of Venezuela to use access to social programs to get people to the polls has diminished as the country's economy has frayed.

He's the heir to Hugo Chávez, a popular socialist who expanded Venezuela's welfare state while locking horns with the United States.

Sick with cancer, Chávez handpicked Maduro to act as interim president upon his death. He took on the role in March 2013, and the following month, he narrowly won the presidential election triggered by his mentor’s death.

Maduro was re-elected in 2018 in a contest that is widely considered a sham. His government banned Venezuela’s most popular opposition parties and politicians from participating, and in turn, the opposition urged voters to boycott the election.

That authoritarian tilt was part of the rationale the U.S. used to impose economic sanctions that crippled the country’s crucial oil industry.

More than 21 million Venezuelans are registered to vote, but the exodus of over 7.7 million people due to the prolonged crisis — including about 4 million voters — is expected to reduce the number of potential voters to about 17 million.

Voting is not mandatory and is done on electronic machines.

Venezuelan law allows people to vote abroad, but only about 69,000 met the criteria to cast ballots at embassies or consulates during this election. Costly and time-consuming government prerequisites to register, lack of information and a mandatory proof of legal residency in a host country kept many migrants from registering to vote.

Venezuelans in the U.S. face an insurmountable obstacle: Consulates, where citizens abroad would typically cast their ballots, are closed because Caracas and Washington severed diplomatic relations after Maduro’s 2018 re-election.

A more free and fair presidential election seemed like a possibility last year, when Maduro’s government agreed to work with the U.S.-backed Unitary Platform party to improve electoral conditions in October 2023. An accord on election conditions earned Maduro’s government broad relief from U.S. economic sanctions on its state-run oil, gas and mining sectors.

But hopes for a more level playing field began fading days later, when authorities said the opposition’s primary was against the law and later began issuing warrants and arresting human rights defenders, journalists and opposition members.

A U.N.-backed panel investigating human rights violations in Venezuela has reported that the government has increased repression of critics and opponents ahead of the election, subjecting targets to detention, surveillance, threats, defamatory campaigns and arbitrary criminal proceedings.

The government has also used its control of media outlets, the country’s fuel supply, electric network and other infrastructure to limit the reach of the Machado-González campaign.

The mounting actions taken against the opposition prompted the Biden administration earlier this year to end the sanctions relief it granted in October.

FILE - A supporter holds up a banner with images of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, during a campaign rally in Maracaibo, Venezuela Thursday, May 2, 2024. No decision in Venezuela over the past 25 years has been as consequential as the choice voters will make on July 28. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

FILE - Supporters of Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzlez hold signs of support at a meeting with him in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, June 13, 2024. No decision in Venezuela over the past 25 years has been as consequential as the choice voters will make on July 28. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

FILE - Supporters cheer during a campaign rally for President Nicolas Maduro, who is seeking a third term, in Guatire, Venezuela, Friday, May 31, 2024. No decision in Venezuela over the past 25 years has been as consequential as the choice voters will make on July 28. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

FILE - A man dressed as an independence fighter attends a political event with Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, June 13, 2024. No decision in Venezuela over the past 25 years has been as consequential as the choice voters will make on July 28. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)