Ahead of the November 5 presidential election, top Democrat lawmakers are pressuring American President Biden to quit their re-election bid over growing concerns about his age and ability to defeat Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. 

Senior Democrat lawmakers, in a private meeting convened by Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat Representative of New York and the minority leader, on Sunday discussed how to convince Mr Biden to withdraw from the race as he stands little chance of defeating Mr Trump, New York Times reported on Monday.

Citing sources familiar with the confidential discussion Democrat lawmakers had on Sunday, the newspaper reported that during a virtual private meeting, the House Democrats — all senior members of powerful committees — discussed how to use their collective influence to convince Mr Biden he had little chance of defeating Mr Trump.

It added the consensus reached during the meeting was that a change at the top of the ticket was needed to preserve the party’s chances of holding the White House and prevailing in the fight for control of Congress.

Calls within Mr Biden’s party for him to step down followed his below-par performance during the June 27 presidential debate against Mr Trump. 

The Times in an editorial piece, also called for Mr Biden to step down over his poor debate performance, which saw him fumble and appear confused as he lost his flow of thought during the debate, raising questions about his mental and cognitive acuity.

Although Mr Biden admitted his performance was poor during the debate against Mr Trump, he has insisted on fighting for re-election and shunned calls for him to step down.

Last Friday, Mr Biden, 81, in a tweet declared, “I’m the nominee of the Democratic party. I’m staying in the race.”

In an interview with ABC News on the same Friday, Mr Biden blamed his lacklustre performance during the debate on jet lag but insisted that only God could pressure him to withdraw from the race.

“I mean if the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get outta the race’, I would get outta the race,” Mr Biden told ABC News. “The Lord Almighty’s not coming down. I mean, these hypotheticals.”