Senator Chris Coons, the national co-chair of Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, said on Friday that the president was “weighing” the viability of his candidacy as more and more elected Democrats call for him to step aside.
“This is an internal party matter and a matter of the campaign that is playing out very publicly,” Coons said at the Aspen Security Forum, an annual security and foreign policy conference, according to The Hill. “I think our president is weighing what he should weigh, which is: Who is the best candidate to win in November and to carry forward the Democratic Party’s values and priorities in this campaign?”
The Delaware Democrat was effusive about Biden’s “exceptional presidency,” and lauded him for his performance during last week’s NATO Summit. “He chaired … meeting after meeting, three days of the NATO summit—strongest NATO has ever been—did a press conference, did campaign events, did campaign rallies, and there are folks still saying he’s not strong enough or capable enough to be our next president. I disagree,” Coons said.
Shortly after speaking, Coons reaffirmed his support for Biden in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “I fully support the President. He’s told me he’s in it to win it,” Coons wrote. “I’m with him 100% because I know he can beat Trump just like he did last time.”
Biden, who remains in isolation after being diagnosed with Covid-19 earlier this week, has made no indication that he intends to withdraw. But he’s reportedly grown “more receptive” to concerns about his reelection chances and has begun some serious “soul searching.”
Meanwhile, on Friday alone, a whopping eleven congressional Democrats called for Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, including Representatives Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico, Kathy Castor of Florida, Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky, Greg Landsman of Ohio, Betty McCollum of Minnesota, Zoe Lofgren of California, Jared Huffman of California, Marc Veasey of Texas, Chuy Garcia of Illinois, Marc Pocan of Wisconsin, and Sean Casten of Illinois.
Also on Friday, New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich became the third senator to call for the president to withdraw.
