ABC, NBC morning shows give blunt assessment of Biden's future: 'Code red'

CNN, ABC, NBC and MSNBC hosts offered some grim assessments on the future of President Biden's candidacy on Thursday, as several prominent Democrats have called on him to bow out of the race. 

"It's almost like they're saying, ‘we can do this the easy way or the hard way,'" NBC’s Kristen Welker said Thursday on "Today," referring to several reports of leaked, private conversations the president has had with prominent Democrats. 

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., publicly called on the president to bow out on Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also reportedly told the president on a phone call that he should drop out, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has reportedly told Biden he can't win.

"The fact that these big names are coming out at once, and yesterday, Congressman Adam Schiff, a close Nancy Pelosi ally, Savannah, he doesn’t come out and say he would call on President Biden to step aside without the support of Nancy Pelosi. So when you take it all together, and the fact that no one is denying these stories, Savannah, it’s as good as all of them basically saying, ‘yes, we did order the code red,’" Welker said. 

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Welker added that Biden has remained defiant. His campaign has said that the president is the Democratic nominee and has no plans to drop out of the race. 

"Joe Biden has said he is running for President of the United States. Our campaign is moving forward, drawing a vision and a contrast between that of Project of 2025 and what we've seen for the past three days here in Milwaukee – the extreme agenda of Republicans – and that's where our focus is. There are no plans being made to replace President Biden on the ballot," Principal Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks said Thursday.

ABC's Jon Karl and George Stephanopoulos also discussed the president's future on Thursday. Stephanopoulos, a former aide to Bill Clinton, said the "walls were closing in" on Biden. 

"I just don’t see how it is tenable for Joe Biden to continue as the Democratic nominee … when all of the Democratic leadership is telling him, bluntly and directly, that he should get out of the race," Karl told Stephanopoulos, referencing the reports on Democratic leadership pressuring Biden.

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Stephanopoulos said the president was "getting word that his fundraising is completely drying up." 

"I am told, in terms of the major donors, the money into the campaign has stopped. And yes, in polling you've seen upwards of 70% of Democratic voters saying they would like to see a different nominee. That is very hard to sustain," Karl added. 

Even some of Biden's biggest media allies, "Morning Joe" hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, appeared to suggest Thursday that Biden might not be on the ticket, 10 days after he called their show and emphatically said he was not getting out.

"The Dems need to get it together. They really need to get whatever they’ve got going, going. Whatever it is, the problem should not be our candidate. The focus should be on Donald Trump," Brzezinski said. "You know, it may or may not be Joe Biden."

Scarborough called on Biden's allies to "do the right thing."

"You know, 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," he said.