<div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A Democratic senator on Wednesday called on US President Joe Biden to ditch his reelection bid, capping a brutal day that saw mounting pressure from high-profile actor and donor George Clooney and party heavyweight Nancy Pelosi.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As the 81-year-old tried to show his leadership credentials at a NATO summit in Washington, domestic calls have been growing for Biden to quit following his disastrous debate performance against Republican challenger Donald Trump.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At least eight House Democrats have openly called on Biden to not seek reelection, but Peter Welch became the first in the Senate to explicitly do so as concerns rise over his age and fitness.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"For the good of the country, I'm calling on President Biden to withdraw from the race," the Vermont senator said in an opinion piece in the Washington Post.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Biden has been trying to stem a growing tide of Democrats saying that he cannot win in November, but a steady drip of public revolt is squashing efforts to turn the page on the crisis.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hollywood star Clooney penned a devastating editorial in the New York Times Wednesday just three weeks after co-hosting a huge fundraiser in Los Angeles that raised nearly $30 million for Biden.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It's devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe 'big F-ing deal' Biden of 2010," wrote Clooney.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"He wasn't even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Clooney said that Biden would lose the presidential election, and Democrats would also lose both chambers of Congress.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the June 15 fundraiser in Los Angeles co-hosted by Clooney and fellow movie star Julia Roberts, Biden appeared tired as he took to the stage alongside former president Barack Obama.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He had flown straight to California from the G7 summit in Italy and has since blamed jetlag and a cold for his performance in the June 27 television debate with Donald Trump.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In response to Clooney's editorial, the Biden campaign pointed to the president's statements on Monday saying he was committed to running again in November.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Media-shy for much of his presidency, Biden will also give a fresh interview to broadcaster NBC on Monday as he seeks to convince voters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- 'Overwhelmingly negative' -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But while top Democrats broadly but unenthusiastically backed him on Tuesday, Biden's efforts to stop the bleeding increasingly looked to be in vain just a day later.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Former House speaker Pelosi, 86, was lukewarm on his candidacy Wednesday, telling MSNBC "it's up to the president to decide if he is going to run."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We're all encouraging him to make that decision because the time is running short," she said, despite Biden's repeated pledges last week to stay in the race.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pelosi said Biden should delay any final decision until after NATO's 75th anniversary summit in Washington, which ends on Thursday with what will be a closely watched press conference by the president.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fellow NATO leaders appeared to rally round Biden as he greeted them on arrival.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">French President Emmanuel Macron, himself under pressure after calling an inconclusive snap election, gave the older man a hug and a firm handshake on the podium.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Biden, who gave a forceful speech pledging new air defenses for Ukraine as the summit opened on Tuesday, got through his opening remarks with only a couple of verbal stumbles.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But his every move from now until November will now be watched for evidence of age-related frailty or ill health.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Republicans also turned the screw, with the House Oversight Committee, which the party controls, issuing subpoenas for three top White House aides to testify about Biden's health, the Axios news outlet reported.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>