*Could Quit Race As Early As Next Week

*White House Denies Exit Plan

By Joe Hutchison (for dailymail.com)

THE United States (US) President and Democratic Party candidate in the forthcoming election, Joe Biden, Joe Biden has reportedly told aides he may have to step down as a 2024 presidential nominee, and what could prompt that decision as early as next week.  

Allies who spoke with the New York Times said the 81-year-old has acknowledged that three appearances scheduled for this weekend will make or break his re-election bid. 

These include a ABC interview on Friday night, July 5, and campaign stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, not to mention a campaign call on Wednesday, in which he reportedly told campaign staff, “No one is pushing me out.”

One ally told the New York Times: “He knows if he has two more events like that (the debate), we’re in a different place.”

All are seen as crucial after last Thursday’s disastrous debate performance against former President and Republican Party nominee, Donald Trump, which turbocharged calls from other Democrats for Biden to bow out.

Biden attends the first presidential debate hosted by CNN in Atlanta, Georgia, US, June 27

But White House aides have denied the New York Times’ claims an exit plan has been mooted.  

These accounts are the first indication that the President is considering whether he is able to recover from his disastrous debate performance against Trump. 

His family, including wife, Jill, and felon former drug addict son, Hunter, are among allies who have reportedly pushed him hardest to remain in the White House.

But despite the tough talk, Biden is said to privately concede that he may well have to bow out in favour of a younger Democrat candidate to take on a surging Trump.  

On Wednesday, July 3, Biden assured campaign staff on a call that despite mounting calls for him to stand down, he remains in the 2024 race for the presidency.

He said: “Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can, as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running, no one’s pushing me out.

“I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win.

“If the New York Times had provided us with more than seven minutes to comment, we would have told them so.”

Later on Wednesday evening, Biden met with 20 Democrat governors at the White House to assure them that he was fit to run. 

Afterwards, New York Governor, Kathy Hochul, claimed she and her colleagues unanimously backed Biden’s re-election attempt. 

But she has since been accused of lying by an anonymous Democrat source, who told the New York Times that there’s far more continued discontent about Biden’s performance and abilities among governors than Hochul let on. 

White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, also told reporters during her briefing on Wednesday that Biden was not preparing to exit the race.

Jean-Pierre spent the best part of an hour being grilled on the President’s health and confirmed that while he still has a cold, he hasn’t seen a doctor.

She claimed ‘jet lag’ from his two back-to-back international trips 12 days before the debate contributed to the President’s poor showing. She also confirmed Biden hasn’t had a medical examination since February. 

Biden himself even admitted that he nearly dozed off on stage during a fundraiser in the ritzy D.C. suburb of McLean, Virginia, on Tuesday night.

He told the crowd he “wasn’t very smart” for “traveling around the world a couple times” before his televised showdown with Trump.

New poll shows Trump three points ahead on average in all seven swing states after the debate with Biden last week.

Biden did back-to-back trips to France for a D-Day anniversary celebration and then onto Italy for the G7 in June.

Upon his return, he took a holiday at his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Then he spent a whole week at the presidential retreat Camp David resting and preparing for the debate.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday, June 2, that Biden was so drained from the jet-setting that advisers cut debate prep short by two days in order to fit in the beach trip.

While at Camp David, debate prep didn’t start before 11 a.m. and Biden was given time each day in the afternoon to take a nap.

The President made it clear at the Tuesday campaign event his travel is “not an excuse, but an explanation.”

Meanwhile, sitting Democrats have called on the President to withdraw from the presidential race, striking another blow to the campaign, as defectors trickle out against him.

Arizona Democrat, Raúl Grijalva, 76, is urging Biden not to run again, New York Times reported Wednesday. He is the second sitting Democrat to call for the president’s withdrawal.

Two other House Democrats have openly said they believed former Trump will beat Biden, and that lack of confidence will surely be a topic of conversation between the party leaders, which is planned for the evening.

“If he’s the candidate, I’m going to support him, but I think that this is an opportunity to look elsewhere,” Grijalva said.

“What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat- and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race.”

Biden is holding the annual Independence Day party at the White House on Thursday, July 4, and traveling to Madison, Wisconsin on Friday, Julky 5, where he will sit down with ABC News for his first post-debate interview.

The President will then head to a campaign stop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Sunday, July 7.

Both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are key swing states that will help determine the outcome of the 2024 race. 

In those states and the five other battlegrounds, Trump has pulled ahead in polling following their debate in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday, June 27.

Since the debate, Biden and his team have conducted widespread damage control and reached out to reassure party members, staff, lawmakers, donors, allies and voters that Biden is still a viable candidate that can beat Trump again.

But many within the party are looking for other options and are floating those like Vice President, Kamala Harris; California Governor, Gavin Newsom and Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer.

None are able to Trump in nationwide and battleground state polling and all fall behind Biden in his chances of winning against the former President.