WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s disastrous Debate Performance The unrest has sent ripples through the Democratic Party, forcing lawmakers to grapple with a crisis that could overturn the presidential election — and their own — and even change the course of American history.
The Democratic president I vowed to stay in the race. The debate focused on questions about Biden’s age and his ability to serve as president, but his arguments against Republican Donald Trump were choppy and uneven. The stakes in the election are high They are struggling with how to handle an 81-year-old who is supposed to lead the party, as if he is challenging the very foundations of American democracy.
Here’s how the Democratic Party plans to respond after the debate:
Sounding the alarm
This photo combo shows former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, and President Joe Biden, attending a CNN-sponsored presidential debate in Atlanta, Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Joe Biden (center right) and First Lady Jill Biden (right) arrive aboard Marine One with their granddaughters at East Hampton Airport in East Hampton, New York, Saturday, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Leading Democratic lawmakers have recently criticized Biden not only for his performance during the election, but also for his Last week’s 90-minute debate But also important is the level of transparency Biden’s team has shown about his mental state: They have been cautiously open to the idea that Biden should step aside.
One of Biden’s allies, Rep. James Clyburn, D-N.Y., openly discussed holding a “mini-primary” in the lead-up to the Democratic National Convention in mid-August on CNN on Wednesday.
After last week’s debate, Clyburn initially urged Democrats to “stay with” Biden and to “calm down,” but by Wednesday his tone had changed.
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“What I saw last Thursday night is disturbing,” Clyburn, 83, said.
Recent comments from Clyburn and other Democratic leaders, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have been signposts to a party in crisis, but it’s unclear whether their concerns have been conveyed to Biden, who told aides on a Democratic National Committee conference call: “We’re going to have to make sure that we’re not going to have a very hard time getting the votes we need.” “Nobody’s kicking me out.”
Associated Press correspondent Jennifer King reports that Democratic Party leaders are grappling with the fallout from the Biden-Trump debate.
Clyburn, a senior South Carolina senator and former House leader, also held a lengthy phone call with Biden on Wednesday.
In an interview on MSNBC on Tuesday, House Speaker Pelosi called for both Biden and Trump, 78, to undergo medical and mental health exams, but stressed that Biden is “in the best possible position in terms of understanding the issues and what’s at stake.”
“I think the question of whether this is a seizure or is this an illness is a legitimate question, so it’s legitimate for people to ask that question of either candidate,” said Rep. Pelosi, 84, Democrat of California.
Minutes after Speaker Pelosi’s Tuesday remarks, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, R-Texas, He became the first incumbent Democrat Congress called on Biden to withdraw from the race.
“Unlike President Trump, President Biden knows that his first commitment will always be to our country, not himself, and I expect him to make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw, and I respectfully urge him to do so,” Doggett, 77, said.
Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona, also told The New York Times on Wednesday that Biden had a “responsibility” to withdraw from the race.
Lawmakers also worry that Biden’s weaknesses could dampen voter enthusiasm, having a ripple effect. Dealing a blow to the Democratic Party The Democratic Party is trying to hold on to its slim Senate majority and retake control of the House of Representatives. Lower-ranking Democrats are already confident they can outperform Biden in key districts, but a rejection of Biden by large numbers of voters could hurt them.
Several weak Democrats stopped short of calling for Biden to withdraw, but criticized the situation in harsh terms, saying, “If Biden continues, Trump will win.”
“I think the truth is Biden is going to lose to Trump,” Rep. Marie Grusenkamp Perez, a Washington Democrat, told ABC affiliate . “I know it’s hard, but I think the damage has been done in this debate.”
Support Biden
and Biden’s family urges him to stay The race is focused on leading Democrats who could persuade the president to withdraw his nomination, and so far senior Democratic Party officials have largely supported Biden in public.
“There have been no discussions among senior leadership around the key issues surrounding the economy other than making sure that we continue to articulate a compelling vision for the future to the American people,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters in Pittsburgh on Monday.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, wrote on the X website after the debate that the debate showed voters they had a choice between “four more years of progress or four more years of attacks on our fundamental rights and democracy.”
After several days of no in-person talks between Biden and congressional leaders, the president spoke by phone late Tuesday and into Wednesday with Schumer, Jeffries and Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat and a close aide to the president, according to the people briefed on the calls and speaking on condition of anonymity.
Many of Biden’s allies say the news outlet Fixated on Biden’s mental capacityHe argues that the focus should instead be Trump’s record of refusal to accept He has repeatedly claimed he lost the 2020 election to Biden and lied about the outcome.
Texas Democrat Rep. Veronica Escobar, a member of the Biden campaign committee, acknowledged Friday that the debate had not gone as expected, but added, “I think we need to have a serious conversation about what Donald Trump said. It goes beyond vulgarity.”
Try to feel it
The June 27 debate added new dynamics to a race that has offered few surprises so far: Voters are familiar with Biden and Trump and had made up their minds about which one to choose in 2020.
Still, many House Democrats were on edge as they faced a barrage of questions the next morning, in an increasingly unpredictable situation as Democrats ponder the implications of replacing Biden as their top presidential candidate.
Privately, rank-and-file lawmakers have been having calls and conversations, mulling messages for the White House. Many are refraining from speaking publicly to allow Biden time to make his case in campaign rallies and interviews over the coming days. Many will be closely watching his interview with ABC later this week, his first since the debate.
But some House Democrats are already Keep your distance From the President.
Rep. Jared Golden, a moderate Democrat from Maine, argued the election result was foregone.
“I’m not going to vote for him, but Donald Trump is going to win,” Golden said in an op-ed in the Bangor Daily News, “and I’m OK with that.”
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Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
