Representative Adam B. Schiff, the California Democrat who is running for the Senate, warned during a private meeting with donors on Saturday that his party could suffer crushing losses in November if President Biden remained in charge, two people said. with direct knowledge of the observations of Mr. Schiff at the meeting.
If Mr. Biden were to stay, not only would he lose to former President Donald J. Trump, but it could be enough of a drag on other Democratic candidates that the party would likely lose the Senate and miss out on a chance to win control of the House. chamber said Mr. Schiff at a fundraiser in New York.
“I think if he's our candidate, I think we lose,” said Mr. Schiff during the meeting, according to a person with access to a transcript of a recording of the event. “And we may very, very well lose the Senate and lose the opportunity to take back the House.”
The comments of Mr. Schiff underscore the depth of the president's party's concerns about Democrats' prospects for a no-ballot vote if Mr. Biden remains in the race, even if most senior Democrats are still unwilling to voice such dire warnings in public.
The event was held in East Hampton, New York shortly before Mr. Trump was shot on Saturday. Public calls from Democrats for Mr. Biden to withdraw as a candidate have fallen since the assassination attempt on Mr. Trump, providing Mr. Biden, who insists he will remain in the race, an opportunity to overcome dissent.
In an effort to end the infighting, Democratic National Committee leaders are moving formally nominate Mr. Biden as the party's nominee at the end of the month, weeks before its convention in Chicago in August.
The fundraiser at which Mr. Schiff was made for him; Representative Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who is running for Senate; and another Senate candidate, Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland.
Mr. Schiff, who has been one of Trump's most outspoken critics, said at the fundraiser that Mr. Biden and his campaign staff had generally been unwilling to engage the views of outside pollsters and political experts and urge to do so people familiar with his statements said.
At least one donor who attended the event and heard Mr. Schiff said he left dejected, believing Mr. Biden to win now were scarce and they should concentrate on giving their time and money to the candidates of the vote in the hope of saving something. for the party
A campaign spokeswoman for Mr. Schiff declined to comment.
Mr. Biden's campaign pointed to statements he and allies of the president had made repeatedly in recent days that he maintained strong support from members of Congress. Only a relatively small number have come out publicly against Mr. Biden's candidacy, the campaign said, which highlighted support from members of groups such as the Congressional Black Caucus.
In one interview on NBC's “Meet the Press” program This month, Mr. Schiff expressed more cautious concern about the chances of Mr. Biden vs. Mr. Trump and said that Mr. Biden would have to beat the former president “overwhelmingly” to overcome challenges from Mr. Trump that the election was stolen from him.
Schiff declined to say whether he thought Biden could win in a landslide, but said Vice President Kamala Harris could.
“I think the vice president would be a phenomenal president,” he said.
During the meeting with donors on Saturday, Mr. Schiff gave a much more forceful assessment of what he believed Mr. Biden are
Schiff rose to national prominence in 2019 as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee when he led the impeachment hearings against Mr. Trump to withhold aid to Ukraine.
The impeachment proceedings began after an intelligence community official seeking whistleblower protections told lawmakers about a phone call that Mr. Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the call, Mr. Trump implied that US military aid to Ukraine was tied to Mr. Zelensky helping to launch investigations into the family of Mr. Biden.
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