WASHINGTON (AP) — Bernie Sanders describes president Joe Biden‘s recent debate performance as “painful.” In an interview, he says he’s not confident Biden can win this fall.
But the progressive senator from Vermont doesn’t want Biden to step aside.
Instead, Sanders, who was Biden’s main rival in the 2020 Democratic Party nomination, is calling on voters to be “adult” as they consider their options this fall.
“A presidential election is not a Grammy Award contest for best singer or entertainer. It’s about who has the best policies that impact our lives,” Sanders said. “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure Biden gets re-elected.”
That’s the best view. Nearly a week after Biden’s disastrous debate performance, questions about his ability to stay in the race are mounting among anxious Democrats. But there’s also a growing sense that the party has gotten itself into a bad situation with no clear solution, locked into a primary process designed to protect Biden with elected officials unwilling to say out loud what some are saying in private.
Some allies, such as Sanders, acknowledge Biden’s problems but compare his policies and record to those of Republicans. Donald TrumpBut many donors, strategists and party insiders want Biden to suspend his re-election campaign to avoid what they believe is a sure-fire loss in November.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas on Tuesday became the first Democrat in the House of Representatives to call on the president to withdraw, saying the stakes were “too high” for Biden to stay in the race and lose to Trump.
“He has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of leaders from whom a nominee can be chosen to unite our country through an open, democratic process,” Doggett said in a written statement. “My decision to make these strong reservations public was not taken lightly, and it in no way diminishes my respect for all that President Biden has accomplished.”
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi told MSNBC she believes “it’s a legitimate question” whether Biden’s faltering performance is just “an incident or whether this is a condition.”
“If people ask that question, it’s legitimate — for both candidates,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi said she had not spoken to Biden since the debate, but she stressed that the president “is at the top of his game, in terms of knowing the issues and what’s at stake.”
In private, people close to Biden’s potential replacements, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Vice President Kamala Harris, are holding informal discussions about possible next steps if Biden abruptly changes course and steps aside.
Such conversations have included discussions about potential running mates, according to donors involved in the discussions. Names of potential vice presidential nominees that have surfaced include Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Rep. Ro Khanna of California.
All the officials on such lists have publicly pledged their support for Biden in recent days. And Biden’s team, ever defiant, has downplayed the president’s political problems in a series of memos and private meetings with donors, strategists and party insiders.
“The voters are powerless,” said Nina Turner, a national co-chair of Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign who now fears the Democratic Party cannot win again with Biden as the nominee. “The decision is solely his.”
Amid this frustration, key groups in Biden’s political coalition, which had already shown signs of crumbling before the debate, are beginning to turn on each other.
Tim Miller, a prominent Biden supporter who once worked for Republican political campaigns, has been attacked in recent days by pro-Biden activists, who posted photos of his family on social media after he expressed concerns about Biden’s general election prospects.
In an interview, however, Miller said that elected Democrats privately tell him they share his concerns.
“To me, the only risk right now is that everybody shuts up and gets in line,” Miller said. “It’s the right time to have an open conversation about what the path forward is. Otherwise, we’re on a trajectory for another Donald Trump presidency.”
A handful of leading Republicans from the “Never Trump” camp met privately with Biden campaign officials on Monday to encourage the president to withdraw from the race.
The Biden campaign released a memo over the weekend saying he lost little support after the debate. A separate internal memo also said he retained the support of many voters who reacted negatively to his prime-time performance.
A CNN poll conducted by SSRS after the debate found that Biden’s popularity rating hasn’t changed significantly, nor has the share of Americans who say they’ll vote for him in November. However, three-quarters of American voters — and more than half of Democratic voters — say the Democratic Party would have a better chance of winning the presidency with someone else at the top of the ticket.
At the same time, the president’s campaign on Tuesday announced a massive fundraising push for the month of June. In total, the campaign raised $127 million last month, including $33 million on the day of the debate and in its aftermath, the campaign said. The figures cannot be verified until federal filings are released later in the month.
Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison made it clear Tuesday that party rules leave no room for a Plan B.
Biden secured nearly all of the delegates for state primaries this spring. They are required by party rules to “in good conscience” reflect the wishes of voters who voted for Biden. A virtual vote to formalize Biden’s status as the nominee is expected weeks before the party’s national convention.
“The primaries are over and in every state the will of Democratic voters was clear: Joe Biden is the Democratic Party’s nominee for president,” Harrison told The Associated Press. “Delegates have been pledged to reflect the sentiment of voters, and over 99% of the delegates have already committed to Joe Biden for our convention.”
But Biden’s allies in key states across the country recognize the fear spreading within their party.
Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, said she is sharing her personal experiences to help ease concerns about Biden’s mental health.
“I’ve had close meetings and conversations and interactions with the president where we’ve been able to discuss important policy initiatives but also just have a general conversation, like you’re talking to your neighbor,” Fried said. “There’s never been a time when I’ve questioned his ability to govern this country and provide the type of energy and coalition that’s needed to win in November.”
Michigan Democratic Party Chairwoman Lavora Barnes said she spoke with volunteers Monday night and that “yes, they asked questions” about Biden’s debate performance. But “we need to focus our conversations with our voters on the work the president has done in contrast to Donald Trump,” she said.
Democratic Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont acknowledged that Biden’s performance in the debate has fueled questions about the president’s age, questions being asked by “everyday voters” and even “extremely energetic Biden supporters.”
“The Biden campaign is well aware of that,” Welch said in an interview. “I thought it was a mistake for the Biden campaign to be critical of people who started asking questions that the campaign itself is asking.”
Meanwhile, Sanders, Vermont’s other senator, admitted that Biden’s road to re-election will not be easy.
“I had no confidence that he would win going into the debate,” Sanders told the AP. “What we need on the part of the American people is a maturity at this point — and that is to understand that the issues are important. And the difference between Trump and Biden: night and day.”
___
Cappelletti reported from Lansing, Michigan. Associated Press writer Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux in Washington contributed to this report.
