Biden's support on Capitol Hill grimly uncertain. A seventh Democrat says he should drop out

WASHINGTON (AP) — The mood on Capitol Hill turned grimly uncertain Tuesday as Democrats wrestled over President Joe Biden’s reelection and the extraordinary question before them — whether to stand behind his candidacy or push the president to bow out amid concerns over his ability to lead them to victory.

House and Senate Democrats met privately with tensions running high. The conversation was “dour” and “sad” in the House, lawmakers said, as they discussed their party leader who emphatically refuses to step aside and implored them in a sharply worded letter to refocus from him to the threat posed by Republican Donald Trump. In the Senate, where Biden spent a storied career, they said even less.

Late in the day, a seventh House Democrat, Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, publicly called on Biden not to run for reelection, saying with Trump seeking to return to the White House, “the stakes are too high — and the threat is too real — to stay silent.”

What could become a time for Democrats to bolster their president, who remains the favorite for some despite his poor debate performance and public appearances, instead fell deeper into crisis over real fears they could lose the White House and Congress and watch the rise of a second term Trump.