Joe Biden’s standing among congressional Democrats was further undermined on Monday, with an influential House committee member calling on him to end his presidential campaign after last month’s debate defeat.
Adam Smith, the ranking Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, made the plea just hours after the president flatly rejected calls for him to step down in a letter to the party’s congressional contingent.
Biden also expressed his determination to continue an unscheduled phone interview with MSNBC’s political program “Morning Joe.”
But in a clear sign that such messages may be falling on deaf ears, Smith said it’s clear from polls that voters think he’s too old to be an effective candidate and president for the next four years.
“The president’s performance in the debates was appalling, and the American people have made it clear that they no longer believe he is a credible candidate for a four-year term as president,” Smith, a Washington state congressman, said in a statement.
“The president has not seriously addressed these issues since the debate.”
He said the president should withdraw “as soon as possible” but said he would support him “unreservedly” if he persisted as the nominee.
But the effect of his statement was on full display later in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. One of two moderators of the debate, Biden’s hoarse voice and often chaotic performance and demeanor have plunged his reelection campaign into an existential crisis.
“Personally, I think Kamala Harris [the vice-president] will be a better, stronger candidate,” Smith told Tapper, adding that Biden “is not the best person to deliver the Democratic message.”
He implicitly criticized Democratic colleagues and Biden campaign staff who called on Democrats to put the debate behind them, calling it “a bad night.”
“A lot of Democrats are saying, ‘Well, let’s move on, let’s stop talking about it,'” Smith said. “We are not the ones raising this issue. The country is raising this issue. And the campaign strategy of ‘keep quiet, get in line, and let’s ignore it’ is simply not working.
Smith joins five Democratic members of Congress who publicly called on Biden to withdraw last week. He was one of at least four people who privately expressed support for the bill during a virtual meeting with House Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday.
Having senior members of the Armed Services Committee join the chorus of voices urging him to withdraw troops could be particularly damaging to Biden’s career, a week before he hosts a NATO leaders’ summit in Washington.
The coalition’s heads of government and state will gather in the U.S. capital on Tuesday for an event that is likely to increase international attention on Biden, who will hold a rare news conference on his final day on Thursday. The union may scrutinize it for further misrepresentation and evidence of cognitive decline. Impromptu appearances have been rare during Biden’s three-and-a-half-year term.
In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos last Friday, Biden stressed his role in expanding Nato’s membership and leading its military aid programme to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s invasion as a key element of his qualification to continue as his party’s nominee and be re-elected as President.
In a surprise interview with “Morning Joe” on Monday, Biden blamed Democratic elites for his current woes, an undefined title he may now expand to include Smith.
