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 after his disastrous debate performance last month.
“Donald Trump is on track, I think, to win this election, and maybe win it by a landslide, and take with him the Senate and the House,” he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “So for me, this isn’t a question about polling. It’s not a question about politics. It’s a moral question about the future of our country.”
“The White House, in the time since that disastrous debate, I think, has done nothing to really demonstrate that they have a plan to win this election,” the Colorado Democrat said.
Bennet, who stopped short of calling on Biden to withdraw, also warned on “The Source” about what’s at stake in the 2024 election, saying that losing the House and Senate to Republicans would be “an American tragedy.”
“The stakes could not be higher,” he said.
Bennet said his voters have “deep concerns” about whether Biden can win and urged the White House to not ignore worries about his viability.
@LovesickB1llOfRightsDemocrat10mos10MO
The AOC comments last night felt like it was starting to wind down but Bennet choosing to go on CNN tonight makes things feel a little more loose now. Guess we’ll see how the presser goes.
@R3dStateKennedyPatriot10mos10MO
If I had to make a prediction rn, it would be that he will in fact drop out of the race, but (a) it'll happen in a few weeks, not immediately (b) nomination will go straight to Harris, not some wacky reality-show process (c) it will somehow feel sudden, not with a lot of buildup.
@LovesickB1llOfRightsDemocrat10mos10MO
I’m not sure what my base case is right now, but I find that scenario plausible.
@OriginalPupDemocrat10mos10MO
Something about this just feels unsettled. 5 weeks to the convention is a lot of time. Most Dems off the record want him gone. Biden is on a full count until the convention. His team will try to ensure he only sees easy pitches but if he gets caught swinging outside. Ballgame.
@LovesickB1llOfRightsDemocrat10mos10MO
The CBC/Jeffries/Schumer showed their hands and that hasn’t quite put down the unrest yet, so we wait and see.
@OriginalPupDemocrat10mos10MO
The fact that a fair number of people seem comfortable voicing this suggests that there are still plausible outs. Bennet's a savvy guy. Leadership didn't shut this down so heavily that members aren't speaking up. There's another layer to this behind the scenes. We wait and see
@LovesickB1llOfRightsDemocrat10mos10MO
He was clearly speaking for more members than himself on CNN.
@SuperPACJackalPeace and Freedom10mos10MO
Not weeks. But maybe after the GOP convention next week so they can't make the whole convention an attack on Kamala.
Letting them think he was definitely in through the GOP convention so they focus on Biden would be a fun trick.
The reality show can be finding a running mate for Kamala. Her decision, but that is what the talk will turn to. Announcing the VP at the convention is normal. Lots of time for speculation to steal the news narrative.
@S0v3reignAnteaterLibertarian10mos10MO
Don’t underestimate the stubbornness of anyone with the Biden name
@ShyP4rtisanAmerican Solidarity10mos10MO
I think a possible scenario is he has another reallly bad outing where it’s wall to wall coverage in the next 3 weeks or so.
Polls go lower. His ego / teams ego can only hold for so long.
@LegislationDickSocialist10mos10MO
There's no escape because renominating Biden is fundamentally a bad idea, there are only bad arguments for it, and everyone will regularly be reminded of this in the form of things like bad polls, bad public appearances (or evasive actions designed to avoid them) and so on.
@Partis4nCrowPatriot10mos10MO
Senators Michael Bennett, Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester told colleagues in today’s Democratic caucus lunch that they do not believe that President Biden can win the election.
@C0nsensu5SyrupConstitution10mos10MO
Hot take: Biden has repeatedly shown himself to be a master negotiator and politician. If he drops out, he is not going to do it now or in a way that makes it look like he's responding to pressure. He's going to carefully time and stage-manage it.
@ISIDEWITH10mos10MO
@ISIDEWITH10mos10MO
@ISIDEWITH10mos10MO
@ISIDEWITH10mos10MO
@ISIDEWITH10mos10MO
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