(RepublicanPress.org) – Controversy continues to rage within the Democratic Party over the proper response to Joe Biden’s disastrous performance during the first presidential debate with rival Donald Trump. Many noteworthy individuals, inside and outside of Washington, have called for the president to drop his bid for a second term. Most notably, Hollywood film actor George Clooney recently urged Biden to withdraw.
So far, Biden has resisted those calls — with family members, campaign staff, and most top Democratic lawmakers supporting his decision to stay in the race. However, some Democrats are still pushing for Biden to drop his bid for a second term.
A perfect case in point is the recent decision by a senior-level Democrat who pleaded with Biden to abandon his 2024 campaign during an on-air interview.
Senior Democrat Urges Biden To Withdraw
Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) sat down for an interview with CNN host Jake Tapper for the July 8 broadcast of “The Lead.” Predictably, the conversation turned to Biden’s decision to stay in the race.
Tapper began by noting that he normally asked Smith to appear to talk about the armed services and foreign policy — not politics. Smith serves as the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.
Tapper explained that he wanted to depart from their usual discourse due to the potentially “fraught moment” American “democracy” faces as the nation approaches the November election. He asked Smith what the senior lawmaker’s message was to the president and his fellow Democratic lawmakers.
Smith responded by looking at the camera. Speaking directly to the president, he said, “I think you should stop aside.” Turning his attention back to Tapper, Smith told him that “it’s become clear” that Biden isn’t “the best person to carry the Democratic message” to voters.
The senior Democrat explained that it wasn’t personal. He said the situation wasn’t different from the one that paved the way for the Democrats’ 2020 decision to switch their support from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to Biden.
Smith noted that Biden’s campaign had a rocky start that year. “The president did not run a great primary campaign,” he stated.
However, along the way, Democrats started embracing Biden’s campaign. They decided that the former vice president and US senator “had the record to be a strong president” and, more importantly, defeat Trump. In the end, Sanders stepped down as did other Democrats like Amy Klobuchar, Mike Bloomberg, and Elizabeth Warren — for the good of the party.
Smith also called on other senior Democrats, such as Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Mike Quigley (D-IL), to “put their personal feelings aside for Joe Biden.” “I’m pleading with them,” he said, to “take a step back” and consider what was “best for the party […] the country.”
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