The members of Joe Biden’s circle who could convince him to stand down

Pressure on Joe Biden to stand aside to avoid humiliation in November’s election is mounting.

But despite the growing chorus of donors and Democrat strategists calling for his replacement, it is only the US president’s inner circle and wider circles of influence that are capable of getting through to him.

From family and friends to Democratic big beasts and newspaper columnists, their influence will be pivotal over the next few months.

Circle one: family

Jill Biden, the first lady, is arguably the most important of all. Dr Biden, 73, is the president’s second wife - his first having died in a car crash.

Perhaps the best indication of her influence was in 2003 when leading Democrats were trying to persuade Mr Biden to run against George W Bush.

Dr Biden, who was sunbathing by the swimming pool in a bikini, marched into the kitchen to her husband, grabbed a marker pen and wrote “NO” on her stomach.

Mr Biden and his advisers got the message.

Mr Biden’s 78-year-old sister Valerie Biden Owens is a respected political strategist.

Back in 1972, then a high school teacher, she was persuaded by Joe to run his longshot campaign to become one of Delaware’s senators. She steered him to a shock victory.

She has been by his side ever since, running all his senate campaigns and his two unsuccessful bids for the presidency. According to her book, Ms Biden Owens did not want her older brother to run in 2020, fearing the impact the personal attacks would have on him and his family.

Circle two: close political advisers

Mike Donilon, a 65-year-old political pollster and campaign consultant started working for the then Delaware senator Mr Biden in 1981 and has been one of his most trusted advisers ever since.

Described by the Washington Post as Mr Biden’s alter ego, Mr Donilon is consulted on every major decision.

Having advised Mr Biden to run for a second term, it could fall to him to spell out the consequences of the debate debacle.

Ron Klain, a  62-year-old long-standing Democrat strategist, Mr Klain was a key figure in the Biden, Obama and Clinton administrations.

He was Mr Biden’s chief of staff for the first two years of his administration, having held the same post when he was vice president.

Even though he has left the White House, Mr Klain is reportedly in almost daily contact with his former boss.

Ted Kaufman’s association with Joe Biden dates back to 1972, and he was picked to complete Mr Biden’s term as a senator when he became Barack Obama’s vice president.

Known for his blunt straight-talking approach, 85-year-old Mr Kaufman headed the Biden transition team after he won the 2020.

Anita Dunn, 66, is a senior adviser to Mr Biden, returning to the post in May 2022.

A veteran Democratic operative, who also was Barack Obama’s communications director, she is part of the tight circle of Biden allies in the White House.

She has a reputation as a political brawler and one of Mr Biden’s fiercest defenders in Washington.

Circle three: political allies

Relations between the Bill and Hillary Clinton and Mr Biden were not always good.

There was reportedly some ill-feeling when Mrs Clinton beat him to the 2016 Democratic nomination.

Since then the Clintons have been enthusiastic fundraisers for Mr Biden, who needs all the allies he can find.

Barack Obama has helped raise money for Mr Biden, who was his vice president.

Unlike many other administrations, the vice president and president got on well during their tenure. The 62-year-old former president is seen as a sounding board for Mr Biden.

According to Washington gossip, Mr Obama has long been worried by the Biden campaign’s performance and has urged him to bring in some seasoned experienced advisers to help run the operation.

Chris Coons, the 60-year-old senator from Delaware, is arguably Mr Biden’s closest ally on Capitol Hill.

Mentored by Mr Biden, Mr Coons is the president’s eyes and ears in Congress and probably best placed to voice the anxieties of Democrats who fear they could be casualties of a Republican wave in November.

Hakeem Jeffries, the 53, Democratic leader in the House of Representatives may have nurtured hopes of regaining control of the chamber in November.

Now he will fear his members being turfed out in downmarket ballots in November.

Asked whether Mr Biden should stand down, Mr Jeffries offered a terse no comment.

Circle four: columnists

Mr Biden is reportedly a voracious reader of newspapers and the work of several major columnists in the US media.

Thomas Friedman, 70 has a weekly column in the New York Times, is a friend of Mr Biden and occasionally has personal briefings from the president.

A Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr Friedman has a postgraduate degree in International Relations from Oxford.

Regularly read by Mr Biden, Mr Friedman’s call for him to step aside on Friday will be a bitter blow to the president

David Ignatius, 74, is a columnist for the Washington Post. Educated at Harvard and Cambridge University.

He has made little secret of his belief that Mr Biden should not run again, having called on the president to stand down last September, warning that an electoral defeat would undo his greatest achievement - beating Donald Trump in 2020.

New York Times columnist David Brooks, 62, is a respected right-of-centre columnist.

Earlier this month, he attacked the trial of Mr Biden’s son, Hunter in a radio interview.

“I don’t think if he had a... didn’t have a high-profile father, he would be suffering this increased conviction of a felony.”

Joe Scarborough, 61, hosts Morning Joe on the left-leaning MSNBC with his third wife Mika Brezinski.

Mr Biden’s favourite news anchor, Scarborough, questioned his decision to stay in the race after his performance in the debate on Thursday night.

Mr Scarborough praised him for his work in office but questioned his status as the nominee.

“If he was CEO and he turned in a performance like that, would any Fortune 500 corporation in America keep him as CEO?” he said.

“These are hard questions, but the fact is, friends, failure is just not an option. We know that Joe Biden can govern…he can run the White House. He can run the country. But can he run for president in 2024?”

A former Republican congressman in Florida,  who was one of 228 members of the House of Representatives to vote to impeach Bill Clinton in 1993, he switched his political affiliation to Independent in 2017.

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