President Joe Biden continues to play defense after a disastrous debate performance last week with many in his own party calling for him to withdraw from the Democratic ticket.
At the presidential debate last week, Biden faltered, misspoke, trailed off and at times seemed incoherent, prompting comments from former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, and widespread concern, even from Democrats, after the debate.
Biden and his team acknowledged the poor performance but have tried to downplay it and spin it into a comeback where Biden can “get back up” and win.
“After the first presidential debate, lots of Democrats are panicking about whether President Joe Biden should step down as the party’s nominee,” Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, wrote in a July 2 op-ed in the Bangor Daily News. “Biden’s poor performance in the debate was not a surprise. It also didn’t rattle me as it has others, because the outcome of this election has been clear to me for months: While I don’t plan to vote for him, Donald Trump is going to win.”
“And I’m OK with that,” he added, going on to buck the Democratic claims that Trump will be an existential threat to Democracy.
Reuters has now reported that about two dozen House Democrats in competitive races are willing to call on Biden to drop his reelection bid.
A handful of Democrats have already publicly raised concerns about Biden’s fitness without outright calling on him to drop out of the race.
“About 50 million Americans tuned in and watched that debate,” U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., told KATU News in an interview. “I was one of them for about five very painful minutes, and we all saw what we saw. You can’t undo that, and the truth, I think, is that Biden is going to lose to Trump. I know that’s difficult, but I think the damage has been done by that debate.”
When asked if Biden should step down, she went on to point out that primary voting has already made Biden the nominee.
Who would replace Biden is the natural question, with California Gov. Gavin Newswom, Vice President Kamala Harris and former First Lady Michelle Obama topping the list in speculations.
“We have to rip the band aid off!” Tim Ryan, former Ohio Democratic Congressman, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Too much is at stake.”
NBC News reported Wednesday afternoon that Biden told staff on a call that he was not leaving the race and that no one is pushing him out.
That report comes on the heels of a report from The New York Times that Biden told “a key ally” that he was considering dropping out of the race after his debate performance. The White House denied the New York Times report.
“Democrats chose Biden as their nominee,” U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., wrote on X. “They blocked all primary competition to him. And now they’re stuck with him. Some say by staying in the race, Biden isn’t doing what’s best for America… but this is NOTHING NEW. Since DAY ONE, Biden’s agenda has been destroying America.”
The calls for Biden to step aside ratcheted up this week when U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, became the first elected Democrat to call for the president to “withdraw” his reelection bid. Doggett expressed fear that Biden may hand the White House to Trump, who is currently performing well in the polls, particularly in swing states.
Doggett’s calls may have been the leak in the dam as it only increased similar rhetoric.
“President Biden has continued to run substantially behind Democratic senators in key states and in most polls has trailed Donald Trump,” Doggett said, as The Center Square previously reported. “I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not. Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies.
“Our overriding consideration must be who has the best hope of saving our democracy from an authoritarian takeover by a criminal and his gang,” he added.
CBS 17 News reported comments from U.S. Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., who said at a press conference this week that Biden’s debate was a “disaster” and that he needs to “step up.”
“So, the message would simply be for the campaign, if this is what you want, then I believe all this response is people simply saying we want to see you fighting,” he reportedly said. “I’m not about telling the president. It’s not my job to have him step out. But I can say this clearly: if he’s gonna stay in, he needs to step up.”
Biden met behind closed doors Wednesday with Democratic governors, presumably to reassure them of his reelection bid.
