“It’s a no-brainer for me,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said of his decision to continue supporting the president against Trump. “I’m going to remain fully committed.”
Biden’s most vocal defenders are at odds with many lawmakers who have praised him in the wake of questions about his intelligence and health. They also, in carefully worded statements, have left themselves room to abandon course if Democratic sentiment turns against the president. They say they have “concerns” that the president needs to show his debate performance was a one-off, for example by having more “unscripted” interactions with voters in the coming days.
These unqualified Biden supporters On the one hand, there are those who aggressively argue that the 81-year-old president has the best chance of winning, and that Democrats are only hurting themselves by embroiled in a nasty intraparty fight just four months before the election.
“We’ve lost touch,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., told reporters at the Capitol on Monday. “We’re not talking about what we should be talking about.”
Biden’s supporters range from leftists like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to Democrats who won battleground states and districts like Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA). Influential members of the Congressional Black Caucus make up a significant portion of his supporters. Some of them are vocal opponents, arguing with other politicians and anti-black racists, and in some cases appearing to enjoy the fight.
Fetterman, who suffered a disastrous defeat in his own debate ahead of the 2022 election, is trolling everyone with his usual Xs and painting Democrats who want change as disloyal “vultures” who never beat Trump in an election.
“Any Democrat is free to do evil in the arena for the Iron Throne,” he wrote, “but if you’re not proud to support Biden, it’s just a sleazy attack from a cheap seat.”
He appeared on Fox News after appearing with Biden in Philadelphia over the weekend and described Biden’s demeanor as “flawless.”.
And Rep. Maxine Waters, 85, a California Democrat, drew a standing ovation at Essence Fest over the weekend when she said Biden was the winner and that there was “no other Democratic candidate” to choose her.
“People are saying, ‘Biden is too old,’ but the fact is, I’m older than Biden,” Waters said. “I get up every morning. I work out. I work late into the night. I take care of black people. Trump has said who he is, he has defined who he is. He is a scoundrel, a deplorable, a liar, a despicable human being.”
Biden’s defenders mix pragmatism with idealism. Some argue the logistical and political risks of switching horses at this point are too frightening. Others say Biden should seek loyalty from his party, pointing to his accomplishments in the legislature during his first term.
“If President Biden is no longer with us, it makes me very confused about what kind of team will be put together,” said Stevens, who has defended Biden in recent days in a group chat with nervous lawmakers. He expressed concern in Michigan about reassembling the coalition for a new candidate. “I have a lot of confidence in him,” he said of Biden.
Other lawmakers said they worried his colleagues were quitting the party prematurely, despite having enthusiastically supported him only a few months ago.
“Most of my colleagues who opposed his candidacy did so after 90 minutes of debate,” said Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio. “These same colleagues sat on the floor with me when I ran for president. [March] At the joint session, we all stood up and applauded his speech.”
Beatty, the CBC member, said Biden would be his “first choice” to endorse Vice President Harris as his running mate, but only if the decision came from Biden and Harris, not Congress.
Representative Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) predicted “the vast majority of senators” would back Biden, including the Congressional Bloc and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. “I’ve never had any doubts about the president,” he said.
Biden’s campaign has been eager to share positive comments from lawmakers like Garcia on social media in recent days as the president tries to stave off a potential rebellion by House members against his candidacy. House members are due to return to Washington on Monday and meet as a group for the first time since the debate on Tuesday morning, while senators are scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon.
Biden has served in Congress for more than three decades as a senator and has built up goodwill among many Democrats, particularly in the Senate, so calls for him to resign have clearly irked him.
“The question of how to proceed from now has been under discussion for well over a week now, and it is time to end it,” Biden wrote in a letter to Congress on Monday. “Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the agenda ahead will only help Trump and hurt us.”
But doubts about Mr. Biden’s candidacy didn’t seem to have vanished on Monday. Several senators, including Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-Minn.) and Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), said they still needed more confidence that Mr. Biden could beat Mr. Trump. Others, including Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), called for a “family conversation” about how to proceed.
Biden defenders are skeptical that such conversations will lead to other solutions. “It’s better to support Biden than to support him. There’s no single standard for Biden to prove himself and satisfy everybody,” Padilla said. He added that he expected senators to “move forward” after discussing the issue at a luncheon on Tuesday.
Sanders, who ran against Biden in the 2020 presidential election, has also supported Biden’s candidacy. He said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that he would not take part in proposed debates among senators about Biden’s future, despite pressing the president on some policy issues.
“This is not a Grammy contest for best singer,” Sanders said. “Biden is older and not as eloquent as he once was. I wish I could jump up the steps of Air Force One, but I can’t. … We need to focus on policies that have benefited and will benefit the vast majority of people in this country.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), another prominent liberal, said the issue was “settled” and that Biden was the nominee.
And Omar, who has been a fierce critic of Biden’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war, issued one of her strongest statements of support on Monday.
“He’s been the best president of my lifetime and we support him,” she told reporters.
