Democrats 'Unlikely' to Remove Joe Biden

Democrats are "unlikely" to try to remove President Joe Biden from the presidential ticket now that he has made clear he intends to stay in the race, political experts told Newsweek.

Most of the analysts Newsweek spoke to agree that an attempt to end the incumbent's candidacy would be "divisive" and do more harm than good, worsening Democratic Party prospects of a November election victory.

Biden has faced calls from multiple members of his own party to withdraw from the race following the disappointing debate performance against former President Donald Trump last month. Biden sounded hoarse and appeared to stumble through several answers, and did little to dispel concerns about his age among voters.

However, Biden on Monday said in a letter to House Democrats that he plans on staying in the race, rejecting calls for him to pass the torch to another candidate. Biden urged Democrats to unite, warning that any divisions would only benefit Trump ahead of the November presidential elections.

And several political experts told Newsweek on Monday that Democrats aren't likely to try to remove him, unless he chooses to do so himself.

"Unless President Biden changes his position, Democrats are unlikely to remove him from the ticket, as that would be highly divisive within the party and would severely hinder Democratic electoral prospects in November," Meena Bose, the executive dean of Hofstra University's Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs, told Newsweek.

Still, if Democratic Party leaders believe there is change needed on the presidential ticket, Biden may have to revisit the issue, she said, noting that poll shave "raised concerns about a path to victory in the presidential race."

"Biden's effort to present those concerns as coming from party 'elites' misses the hesitation that many Democrats have had for months about his ability to win and govern in a second term," she said.

Anne Danehy, a professor at Boston University's College of Communications, told Newsweek while calls for Biden to step aside "cause more problems than any resolution," there is no Democratic candidate who polls better than Biden against Trump and that his detractors will quietly go away.

"If you look at the polling data for anyone, they're not polling as well as Biden. So it's not like there's this universal candidate that's going to be everything to everybody," she said.

She also noted that Biden won the Democratic primary.

"So what does that mean, that we just take power away from people in the primaries? That's one issue. Are people going to feel like it's a bait and switch" she said.

"I think they're scared in terms of what the future holds, and this uncertainty doesn't make them feel more confident," she said.

However, Robert Y. Shapiro, a professor of political science at Columbia University, offered a different perspective. He told Newsweek that critics are going to "increasingly" persist with their calls for Biden to withdraw, at least for now, but could eventually coalesce around Biden.

"It will be stunning if Biden is able to stay in since what has happened has hurt his prospects substantially. The damage is done and those calling for him to withdraw will persist but if Biden holds on, they will rally around him as the alternative to Donald Trump. They shouldn't walk back but just more forward in supporting Biden in the general election," he said.

Newsweek reached out to Biden's campaign for comment via email.