CNN
Senator Michael Bennet speaks on CNN on July 9, 2024.
CNN
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Sen. Michael Bennet on Tuesday became the first Democratic senator to publicly say he doesn’t believe President Joe Biden is capable of winning reelection following his disastrous performance in last month’s debate.
“I think Donald Trump is going to win this election, probably in a landslide victory, and take control of the Senate and the House,” he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “So to me this isn’t about polls. This isn’t about politics. This is a moral question about the future of our country.”
“I don’t think the White House has done anything since that disastrous debate to actually indicate that they have a plan to win this election,” the Colorado Democrat said.
Bennet, who stopped short of calling for Biden to back down, also warned on “The Source” about what’s at stake in the 2024 elections, saying losing the House and Senate to Republicans would be an “American tragedy.”
“The stakes couldn’t be higher,” he said.
Bennet said voters have “deep concerns” about whether Biden can win and urged the White House not to ignore concerns about Biden’s chances of victory.
Bennet’s comments confirmed an earlier CNN report that during a private meeting with Senate Democrats on Tuesday, Bennet told his colleagues that he didn’t think Biden could win.
Biden’s performance at a CNN debate in June raised growing concerns about his mental state and the viability of his campaign. While several House Democrats have publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race, the president has vowed to continue campaigning. In a letter to congressional Democrats on Monday, he said that “despite all media and other speculation,” he is “fully committed to remaining in the race, fighting to the end, and defeating Donald Trump.”
In response to Bennet’s comments, Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz said in a statement to CNN, “This was always expected to be a close race, and what is happening now is what we long expected: Voters have deep concerns about Donald Trump and his harmful policies, and the more we engage and reach out to them, the more they will support President Biden.”
“There are still many days until Election Day and the effort to count every vote is far from over,” he added.
CNN previously reported that Sens. Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester also said Biden couldn’t win during the Capitol Hill meeting, citing sources familiar with the matter. Another source confirmed that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told senators during the meeting that they should speak directly to the White House. Other senators also said they believed the administration was open to hearing directly from senators.
Many Democratic senators declined to speak to reporters after the meeting, with Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, a Biden ally, saying only that it was a “constructive conversation” when asked whether any agreement had been reached.
CNN’s Dana Bash and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.
