A growing chorus of alarmed House Democrats says President Biden’s faltering performance in last night’s debate raises immediate questions about whether he should remain at the top of the ticket in this year’s presidential race.
Such criticism was unthinkable before Thursday night’s high-stakes event, as Democrats rallied fiercely in support of their White House ally throughout the campaign.
But that changed on Thursday night. Many Democrats were shocked by Biden’s shaky performance in Atlanta, where he stumbled over his words, wandered from topic to topic and appeared, more than once, to lose his train of thought. These lawmakers are concerned that shaky performance will only exacerbate the health and competency issues that have emerged as Biden’s main vulnerability.
Some expect him to drop out of the race altogether — even if they don’t publicly call on him to do so — to prevent Donald Trump from winning a second term in the White House.
“It’s time for him to step aside,” a House Democrat, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue, told The Hill. “We were all hanging out this morning, a group of us together on something. There’s no one I’ve spoken to at this point who doesn’t think it’s time for him to step aside.”
A second House Democrat, who also requested anonymity, reserved judgment on Biden’s next steps — “that’s a decision for another day… we’ll see what happens” — but said several people, both in his home state and on Capitol Hill , I think it’s time for the president to give up his place at the top of the ticket.
“There’s a lot of talk… – talk here, talk from friends at home – saying we need someone who can articulate our message and we didn’t see that last night,” the lawmaker said. “A lot of people are saying this… [A] most of the people I talked to today.”
Panicked pundits and Democrats began this conversation almost immediately after the debate ended, and the White House, Biden’s campaign and the president’s top allies worked quickly to stifle talk of a nominee change on Friday morning.
Biden campaign spokesman Seth Schuster told The Hill “of course he’s not going to back down,” a White House official said “it’s not happening,” and Biden surrogates rushed through the Capitol throwing their support to the holder.
But the debate has come in an election cycle in which the House, Senate and White House are all up for grabs and both parties are fighting to secure any advantage, however small, to help their side. Biden’s debate performance raised immediate concerns among Democrats that he had not only harmed his own chances of retaining the presidency but also harmed the party in the election.
“It couldn’t be worse,” said a third Democratic lawmaker, emphasizing that concern is widespread across the caucus.
The dynamic created an unusual scene at the Capitol on Friday morning, where dozens of reporters crowded the hallways to get reactions from Biden’s Democratic allies, and many of those same allies went out of their way to avoid reporters’ questions. Some lawmakers put their phones to their ears as they walked to the chamber. Others simply refused to talk. In another sign of how sensitive the issue is, none of those questioning Biden’s position at the polls would speak publicly.
“The hill just got a little higher,” said a fourth Democratic lawmaker. “We have to do whatever it takes to stop Donald Trump from being in the White House and let’s have a real conversation about what that entails.”
The lawmaker said there is already talk about who could replace Biden on the ticket if he resigns to allow the party to choose an alternative candidate at the August convention. The list includes several governors: Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Gavin Newsom of California. One name noticeably absent, according to several Democrats, is Vice President Harris.
“If there is a change, it will be a completely new passage,” the fourth lawmaker said.
Age has emerged as a central issue in a presidential contest that features the oldest candidates in the country’s history: Biden is 81 and Trump is 78.
Both candidates were pressed on the issue during Thursday’s debate. Trump responded by claiming that he can hit a golf ball “far.” Biden responded with his own golf statistics — and pointed to the long list of legislation that has been adopted during his reign in the White House.
“See how I reversed the horrible situation he left me with,” he said.
In the eyes of some concerned Democrats, however, that record is not enough to overcome their concerns that he would be a risk to the party if he remains on the ticket.
The top House Democrat, who called for Biden to resign, said “the veterans” of the Democratic Party “are going to have to sit down with him and just say, listen, you’ve done a phenomenal job, it’s time.”
Democratic lawmakers said the list of advisers should include the president’s wife, Jill Biden, as well as party leaders with a long history of working with him: former President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D.N. .Y.), the House minority leader. Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.), former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Rep. James Clyburn (D), a South Carolina kingmaker who helped revive Biden’s 2020 campaign in a critical moment.
Many in that crowd, however, are supporting the presumptive nominee, admitting that while the night was a subpar showing for the incumbent, he remains the best person to lead their ticket in November.
“It was a bad performance,” Clyburn told reporters of Biden’s debate. But the South Carolina Democrat said he would “probably” speak to Biden later in the day, when he would deliver a succinct message: “stay the course.”
Pelosi, similarly, said Biden was “off to a bad start” and noted it “could be” his worst night, but added, “On his worst night, his performance of integrity was much better than the other guy’s dishonesty.”
Jeffries, entering the Capitol on Friday morning, told reporters “no” when asked whether Biden should step aside. But later asked whether Biden is the most effective communicator at delivering the party’s message, the House’s top Democrat was coy.
“Until he articulates a path forward in terms of his vision for America at this moment, I will reserve comment on anything relative to where we are at this moment, except to say that I am behind the ticket,” Jeffries said.
For now, many Democrats are asking their colleagues to take a deep breath, let the dust settle and see how voters respond to the president’s performance.
“Obviously, it wasn’t a good night,” said Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.). “But my advice to people would be: let’s sit back, let’s see how the next few weeks go, and we’ll see what happens.”
Other lawmakers, however, say the party has no more time to waste.
“I think you have to do it quickly,” the top House Democrat told The Hill when asked whether party leaders should wait to see the debate polls before speaking to Biden, or talk immediately.
“At the end of the day, does it really matter?” the lawmaker said of the post-debate polls. “The only poll you need to see is last night’s performance. That’s the poll.”
The lawmaker argued that Democrats still have time to make a change at the top of the ticket, with just under two months until the August nominating convention and just over four months until Election Day.
“We have time,” they said. “You go to the convention, the convention can be a big sales fest, how to sell the new candidate, whoever it is.”
The second House Democrat, who said “let’s see what happens” when asked if Biden remains the nominee, was more succinct. When pressed if the party was running out of time, they responded:
“We are at the limit.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
