Clock ticking on Biden as pressure to quit race increases

The walls appear to be closing in on President Biden.

Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer and Adam Schiff are about as influential as you can get within the Democratic party. Whilst not all of them have publicly called for Mr Biden to step down, the fact they’re not denying reports of private conversations is notable.

Ms Pelosi in particular is a battle-scarred politician who is very likely playing a game of 3D chess. She doesn’t want to be accused of disloyalty to the president she admires but equally doesn’t want to be seen as complicit if Democrats suffer huge losses under Mr Biden in November’s election.

It’s reported in the New York Times that Mr Schumer was shown data from a top Democratic fundraising committee that alarmed him - the president is trailing behind in the must-win states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.