WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — President Joe Biden says he’s continuing his campaign, as calls grow louder in his own party for him to step aside. 

It’s fueling speculation that Democratic convention delegates could be tempted to choose another nominee. 

During a high-stakes news conference Thursday, President Biden said Democratic delegates should vote their conscience at the Democratic convention next month. 

“They’re free to do whatever they want,” Biden said. 

And if that means voting for another candidate, he says, “That’s the democratic process. It’s not going to happen.”

Nearly 4,000 delegates have “committed” to nominating President Biden, but they can change their minds. 

“The delegates make the decision,” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) said. 

California Congressman Brad Sherman supports the president but knows his debate performance is hard to forget. 

“If the delegates feel that the candidate before them in August is June 27 Joe Biden, they may go in another direction,” Sherman said. 

While some have said an open convention discredits millions of Democrats who voted for the president in the primaries, others say it’s the right move. 

Connecticut Democratic Congressman Jim Himes is one of the latest lawmakers to call on the president to drop out. He defends the idea of delegates making their own decision. 

“We shouldn’t be afraid of what we purport to defend, which is a democratic process: delegates coming together and deciding,” Himes said. 

George Washington University Professor Casey Burgat explains what exactly a contested convention might look like. 

“There will be speeches made on behalf of those nominees. There will be backroom dealings,” Burgat said. 

Burgat says if the president withdraws, it could be a free-for-all at the DNC. 

“They make their case for why they should be the nominee going forward, and then the delegations would vote in alphabetical order, and the first one to a majority would win,” Burgat said. 

Sherman said that seems unlikely, for now. 

“In the absence of a consensus, the delegates will vote for Joe Biden,” Sherman said.

The Democratic convention starts Aug. 19 in Chicago.