After President Biden’s uncertain debate performance last week, Democrats, including Biden himself, faced a stark choice: Should they continue to express their support for the party’s 81-year-old presumptive nominee, or should they advocate for finding a replacement?
Republican Lloyd Doggett from Texas became the first Democrat to openly run for Congress.
“President Biden saved our democracy by freeing us from Trump in 2020. He cannot hand us over to Trump in 2024,” Doggett said in a statement released Tuesday.
Dozens of House Democrats are reportedly considering following Doggett’s lead by signing a letter demanding that Biden withdraw from the presidential race.
Mixed messages
Biden, meanwhile, is said to have had a conversation with “a key ally” about whether his performance at the debate was too damaging to continue as the party’s 2024 presidential nominee.
Andrew Bates, deputy White House spokesman, said the Times’ reporting was more accurate, and the Biden campaign sent out a memo Wednesday saying Biden was still competitive with Trump in most polls. That same memo attempted to outline Wednesday’s showing Trump now ahead of Biden by six points., as an outlier. A showed Trump with a two-point lead over Biden.
On Wednesday afternoon, Biden tried to reassure his staff. “I’m in,” he added, “nobody’s pushing me out. I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win.”
So far, leading Democrats have offered their public support for Biden, though there are signs that could change. On Tuesday, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told MSNBC that it was “vital” for Biden to prove to doubters that he is still qualified to be president. After that interview aired, a Pelosi spokesperson appeared to try to soften its impact.
“Speaker Pelosi has full confidence in President Biden and looks forward to attending his inauguration on January 20, 2025,” the statement said.
Still, Biden plans to follow Pelosi’s advice and will be interviewed by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Friday.
Former President Barack Obama called Biden after the debate to reiterate his support. But he also “privately told allies” that Biden’s performance had hurt his chances of being elected.
In such a volatile environment, the risks of continuing to support Biden as the Democratic candidate grow greater.
Risks of supporting Biden
Now that Biden has signaled his intention to stay in the race, and top surrogates such as Vice President Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have rallied to his side and insisted he is fit for another four-year term, some Democrats are at risk of having their own judgment called into question.
For example, after the presidential debate, Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison and Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez held a phone call with DNC members during which concerns about Biden’s health were brushed aside.
“I was hoping for a more substantive conversation instead of, ‘Hey, let’s go out there and just be cheerleaders,’ without actually addressing a very serious issue that was playing out on American television for millions of people to see,” Joe Salazar, a DNC member-elect from Colorado who was on the call, told the AP. “There were a number of things that could have been said in addressing the situation. But we didn’t get them. We were manipulated.”
Responding to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s claim on Tuesday that Biden’s debate performance was “just a bad night,” she that same day pointed to “several current and former officials” who described the president as increasingly “confused or listless.”
Thanks to Thursday’s debate and the media attention that followed, Biden’s every appearance will now be more closely watched. If he holds steady or exceeds expectations, Democrats who continue to support his candidacy will breathe a sigh of relief. But if he stumbles again, many voters will likely question their motivation for doing so.
Risks of choosing a new candidate
In an email fundraising appeal for Biden supporters and donors sent after the first debate, the deputy campaign manager indicated that Biden’s resignation was the best way to secure a victory for Trump.
If Biden were to withdraw, “it would lead to weeks of chaos, internal food fights, and a bunch of candidates stumbling into a brutal convention floor brawl, while Donald Trump has time to speak unchallenged to American voters,” he wrote, adding: “That would all be in the service of a nominee who goes into the general election in the weakest possible position with zero dollars in his bank account. You want a highway to defeat? This is it.”
Allan Lichtman, a historian who correctly predicted who would win 9 of the last 10 presidential elections, also strongly criticized those who used Biden’s debate performance as evidence that he is physically unfit to hold the highest office in the land.
“It’s a huge mistake. They’re not doctors. They don’t know if Biden is physically capable of running for a second term or not,” . “This is all reckless nonsense.”
One thing is clear, however, about the current debate over whether to retain Biden: We are not spending time criticizing his opponent.
