The first Democratic senator to publicly question President Joe Biden’s election chances, after seven congressmen urged the 81-year-old to step aside, has emerged.
Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado said that he does not expect the president to defeat Donald Trump in November’s election.
There have been growing concerns about Biden’s fitness for office after a dismal presidential debate performance against Trump late last month.
Speaking with CNN, Bennet said that remaining in the election was “something for the president to consider”. Trump, he said, was “on track, I think, to win this election and maybe win it by a landslide”.
He added that the issue was “a moral question about the future of our country”.
Nancy Pelosi also voiced her uncertainty about Biden’s future on Wednesday, when asked if the president has her support in a TV interview. Pelosi was subtle in her response, urging Biden to make a decision despite his insistence to continue in the race.
“I want him to do whatever he decides to do,” Pelosi told MSNBC’s Morning Joe programme. “And that is the way it is. Whatever he decides to go with.”
“It’s up to the president to decide if he’s going to run. We are all encouraging him to make that decision, because time is running short.
“I said to everyone – let’s just hold off. Whatever you’re thinking, either tell somebody privately, but you don’t have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week. But I am very proud of the president.”
The president had stated his commitment to staying in the race on the same show on Monday, and wrote to congressional Democrats on the same day to say he was “firmly committed to staying in this race”.
On Tuesday, Biden delivered a brief but vociferous remarks to open the Nato summit in Washington, declaring the alliance to be “more powerful than ever”. He was clearer in his tone compared with his debate performance.
Source: BBC News
