President Biden is being “receptive” behind closed doors about the possibility of giving up his 2024 re-election campaign, according to a senior Democratic adviser.

The 81-year-old president, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, has so far been adamant that he will remain in the race for the White House — despite repeated calls from Democrats for him to step aside in the wake of his train-wreck debate three weeks ago.

“He’s being receptive. Not as defiant as he is publicly,” one senior Democratic adviser told CNN late Wednesday.

“He’s gone from saying, ‘Kamala can’t win’ to ‘Do you think Kamala can win?'” the adviser continued. “It’s still unclear where he’s going to land but seems to be listening.”

The official added that Biden’s conversations about his future are still continuing in private with those on the Hill.

The Biden campaign, however, dismissed the claim that he was rethinking his re-election bid.

“If the facts matter — and they should — here is one: President Biden is the Democratic nominee and he is going to win this November,” said a Biden spokesman, Kevin Munoz.

It comes as several high-ranking Democrats – including ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer – are said to have held private talks with Biden in recent days amid intensifying calls for him to drop out.  

What to know about the calls for President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race:

• President Biden’s poor performance in the first 2024 presidential debate left some Democrats unsure of his fitness for office and future as the party’s candidate.
• More than a dozen congressional Democrats have joined in calling for Biden’s exit from the race. Former Biden supporter George Clooney echoed these calls in an op-ed published in the New York Times just weeks after he helped lead a record-breaking fundraiser for the Democrat.
• Democratic voters have continued to raise concerns about Biden’s nomination since the debate, with speculations and suggestions for replacement nominees running rampant.
• Biden’s former running mate Barack Obama has reportedly been trying to pressure him to drop out, and had prior knowledge of Clooney’s op-ed. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allegedly told Biden he could not beat former President Donald Trump this time around.
• As the Democratic National Convention approaches, California delegates for the Democratic Party are reportedly in disarray as debate over the president’s chances of re-election threatens to tear the party apart.
• However, the Biden campaign has denied any plans for Biden to bow out and for Kamala Harris to step in as the Democratic nominee. Sources close to the president believe he might not be willing to drop out, while other sources claim he is “receptive” to giving up on a second term.

Pelosi told Biden that current polling indicated he couldn’t beat former President Donald Trump and that him staying in the race could destroy Democrats’ chances of winning the House, multiple sources told CNN.

Schumer, too, had addressed the bleak polling numbers as he encouraged him to step aside during a meeting at Biden’s beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, ABC News reported, citing a source familiar with their conversation.

Still, the reports that Biden is becoming more receptive to possibly stepping aside are in stark contrast to a “tense” Zoom call he had with dozens of moderate Democrats over the weekend where he was apparently dismissive of mounting concerns.  

“The call was even worse than the debate. He was rambling; he’d start an answer then lose his train of thought, then would just say ‘whatever.’ He really couldn’t complete an answer. I lost a ton of respect for him,” one person on the call told Puck.

“The president was rambling, dismissive of concerns, unable or unprepared to present a campaign strategy,” added a second source, who is a member of Congress.

Despite publicly rejecting calls to step aside, Biden acknowledged Wednesday that he would consider dropping out if doctors diagnosed him with a “medical condition.” 

“IF I had some medical condition that emerged, if somebody, if doctors came to me and said, you got this problem and that problem,” Biden said in an BET interview taped Tuesday.

The admission marked the clearest indication yet that he could potentially be faltering in his vow to seek a second term.