Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer refused to show his hand publicly in the fallout around President Joe Biden’s debate performance and eventual exit from the race, but according to a source directly familiar with his efforts, Schumer quietly played an integral part in the process, keeping regular counsel with members of his caucus, party leaders, campaign officials and the president himself.
On Saturday, July 13, Schumer traveled to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, to meet with President Biden. As NBC News previously reported, the meeting was just the two men, no one else was in the room.
Schumer never discussed the details of the meeting publicly only saying “we had a good meeting.”
Schumer told the President he was there “out of love and affection” and he came “as a friend and colleague," a source briefed on the meeting told NBC News. Schumer then laid out the case to Biden in stark terms and told him to consider three important points, the Biden legacy, the future of the country, and the impact on Congress. He also urged him to think about the Supreme Court.
According to the source, Schumer finished the meeting by saying “I do not expect you to walk out of this room making a decision, but I hope you will think about what I said.”
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To which the president responded, “I need another week,” and then the two leaders hugged.
The meeting in Delaware was the capstone to a hectic few weeks following Biden’s disastrous debate performance. According to the source, in the immediate aftermath of the debate, Schumer did not rush to judgement. He waited to see how things developed and what the polls showed over the weeks following the debate.
He then went to work on an internal strategy, choosing not to air his concerns publicly and encouraging donors and other elected leaders to do the same. Schumer firmly believed that calling out the president publicly would be “counterproductive” and could embarrass the president.
He also believed that the best way for Democrats to approach the situation was with some humanity and not merely cold political calculus. Regardless of Biden’s decision Democrats needed him to be able to campaign for himself or for another Democratic nominee.
When the Senate returned to session, Schumer warned his caucus to keep their public opinions as vague as possible, but encouraged them to voice their concerns directly to the campaign, the White House and even the president himself.
Schumer continued to field concerns from his leadership team and rank-and-file members. They were frank about their worries in the leadership meeting and in the Tuesday caucus lunch. That was when he encouraged Jeff Zeints and Steve Richetti to set up a meeting with the top campaign brass for Thursday with the goal of preventing the dam from breaking.
The meeting with Richetti, Mike Donion and Jen O’Malley Dillion took place Thursday — but did little to calm fears, and led Schumer to worry that the message from the caucus and Democrats on the Hill was not breaking through to Biden himself.
That led Schumer to call House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jefferies, former President Barack Obama and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi to share his concerns. He then decided Thursday night request the meeting with President Biden.
According to this source, Schumer was in regular contact with virtually every member of the Democratic caucus. He spoke with Zeints and Richetti nearly every day and was in regular contact with Jefferies. The source also said Schumer spoke to Obama multiple times.
