(The Center Square) – Another Democrat in Congress, this time from the battleground of Michigan, has publicly said President Joe Biden needs to step aside.
Add the name of Rep. Hillary Scholten to the list that was only 10 on Thursday morning.
Scholten is the first Democratic member of Congress from Michigan to call for Biden to step down. The news comes as Biden visits Detroit on Friday, the morning after his first solo press conference in eight months and a wobbly one at that.
“We just have too much at stake in this election to sit on the sidelines and be silent while we still have time to do something,” Scholten said to The Detroit News on Thursday.
While Scholten is arguably the most powerful Michigan Democrat to speak against his campaign so far, she is not alone showing concern.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where she described Michigan as “the swingiest of swing states” and avoided giving an opinion on Biden’s performance in the presidential debate. While she has publicly affirmed her support for the incumbent president, it’s a far cry from the confidence she expressed earlier in the week.
Nevertheless, the Michigan Democratic Party as a whole continues to rally in support of the president. Party Chairwoman Lavora Barnes and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters have affirmed their support of the president continuing the race.
“I support Joe Biden and Kamala Harris wholeheartedly and this party does as well,” Barnes said in a radio interview with WDET. “I think this conversation that we’re having right now, based on that one night of a debate, is going to wane as we continue to get focused on the work ahead.”
Thursday’s press conference as the 75th anniversary summit of NATO wrapped up was less than helpful to the president. He mixed names for his vice president, calling Kamala Harris Vice President Trump. He also, in introducing to the stage, inserted the name of a war opponent for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calling him President Putin.
Biden won Michigan in 2020 by just 150,000 votes. Former President Donald Trump won Michigan against Hillary Clinton in 2016, the outlier to Democrats winning the presidential election seven of the last eight elections starting with Bill Clinton in 1992.
