US President Joe Biden needs to ‘seriously consider’ quitting race, Barack Obama tells allies

US President Joe Biden is currently isolating with Covid but is facing increasing calls to step down in favour of another Democrat candidate. Getty Images

Former US President Barack Obama has told allies that Joe Biden needs to “seriously consider” dropping out of the race, according to reports.

Obama has been receiving calls from concerned Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and has shared his own views on the viability of Biden’s candidacy.

According to multiple sources briefed on the matter, Obama has only spoken with Biden once since the debate but believes the President needs to assess his options.

It comes as leading Democrats indicate Biden will be persuaded to quit the presidential race as soon as this weekend, according to reports.

Allies of the 81-year-old President, including Pelosi, have been presenting him with polling showing Donald Trump could win a landslide victory in the November election if he does not drop out.

Biden is becoming more “receptive” to the pleas for him to stand aside, according to the New York Times.

Democrats have now told Axios that the President, who is isolating with Covid-19, could be persuaded to exit the election as early as this weekend after becoming privately resigned that the unrelenting scrutiny around his campaign makes his presidential bid untenable.

Pelosi cautioned him that his continued presence could jeopardise Democrats’ prospects of reclaiming the House, while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told him that it would be best to “drop out”.

Even Biden’s favourite TV host has suggested that the US President’s team should convince him to do the “right thing” and step aside.

Joe Scarborough, the host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, said on Thursday morning: “It’s really incumbent on people that are around Joe Biden to step up at this point and help the President, and help the man they love, and do the right thing.

“This is not going to end well if it continues to drag out. Look at the events of yesterday, the events of the last three weeks.”

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Scarborough, whose programme is an early-morning staple for Biden and his advisers, continued: “The anger that I hear is not at Joe Biden. The anger I hear are the people who are keeping him in a bubble.”

Biden is currently experiencing “mild” symptoms from Covid-19 and is working from home in Delaware, his doctor has said.

Kevin O’Connor, physician to the President, said: “The President is still experiencing mild upper respiratory symptoms associated with his recent Covid-19 infection. He continues to receive Paxlovid.

“He does not have a fever and his vital signs remain normal. He will continue to conduct the business of the American people.”

Paxlovid is an oral medication for those who are suffering from “mild-to-moderate” Covid-19 and have been infected for five days or fewer. It is prescribed for those who are at “high-risk” of developing “severe” Covid – like those who are over 50.