US President Joe Biden will return to the campaign trail next week, the head of his re-election campaign said on Friday, even as the Democratic incumbent faces growing calls to leave the race.
"He is absolutely in it," Biden campaign chairwoman Jen O'Malley Dillon told MSNBC in an interview, despite several Democratic officials telling Reuters earlier Friday that Biden's upcoming campaign events had been canceled.
A Democratic Party committee will meet on Friday to discuss a virtual voting process to bring forward the official nomination of the 81-year-old to before the party's in-person convention, starting August 19 in Chicago.
It is unclear how the nominating process would unfold if Biden were to abandon his reelection bid amid questions about his mental sharpness.
Biden has been isolating since he tested positive for Covid this week. O'Malley Dillon's remarks come after several reports that Biden is now taking calls to step aside seriously. Several Democratic officials think an exit is a matter of time, Reuters reported on Thursday.
Biden's reflection is an about-face, as he has insisted for weeks that he would stay in the race despite calls from heavyweights in his party to cede his position at the top of the Democratic ticket after a shaky June 27 debate performance against Trump.
Trump, 78, accepted the Republican Party's nomination this week in Milwaukee, speaking before a rapt audience on Thursday.
Some Democrats have now begun openly advertising against Biden. Pass the Torch, a group that wants Biden to step down, has launched a TV ad to air in Washington and Rehoboth, Delaware, where Biden frequently vacations, and features Democratic voters from Pennsylvania urging Biden to "pass the torch."
For a party already divided, the virtual vote is another point of controversy.
Critics argue it is a means of pushing Biden through early as the party's official nominee. Others, including DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, say it is necessary to deal with an Ohio law that could have kept Biden's name off ballots in the state if he wasn't nominated by Aug. 7, prior to the convention in Chicago.
However, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has signed a bill extending the deadline to Aug. 31, meaning official nomination at the Democratic convention would still comply with Ohio law.
The meeting on Friday is expected to show what the party's plans are for a virtual vote and its timing, which would reveal how much time remains before Biden officially becomes the Democratic nominee for the Nov. 5 election. An online or virtual vote also means no chance of a live convention floor battle among delegates in Chicago that could embarrass Biden.
"On Friday, we will propose a framework for how best to proceed," said a DNC letter to its committee on the meeting, obtained by Reuters. "Next week, we will follow up with a second meeting to consider and adopt specific rules for that purpose. No matter what may be reported, our goal is not to fast-track."
No virtual voting will begin before August 1, the letter said.