Vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance asked on X/Twitter the question on the minds of many Americans:
“If Joe Biden doesn’t have the cognitive function to run for re-election, then he certainly doesn’t have the cognitive function to remain as Commander-In-Chief. How can any Dem pushing him to drop out of the presidential race, argue in good faith that he should stay on as POTUS?”
Operatives at the highest levels of the Democratic Party have been conducting a trickle campaign to erode the ground under President Biden, who is said to have Covid, according to the White House.
Biden had a fourth dose of Paxlovid and his “loose, nonproductive cough and hoarseness continue to be his primary symptoms, but they have improved meaningfully from yesterday,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor said in a letter released Friday.
The number of nationally elected Democrats calling for Biden to step back from his reelection campaign is now over 60, with more senators and representatives joining the call for Biden to leave the race.
Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska has not joined that chorus of Democrats. She is still on record saying Biden is the “sharpest, smartest” person she has met in Washington, D.C., although she has also acknowledged more recently that Biden will lose Alaska in a landslide.
Headlines from news organizations are amping up the pressure:
“Democratic mood darkens as Biden faces new pressure,” wrote BBC.
“Behind the Curtain: Top Dems now believe Biden will exit,” wrote Axios.
More Democrats call on Biden to exit; his team says he is ‘absolutely’ still in the race, wrote the Los Angeles Times.
But Biden is fighting mad at his own party for undermining him in what appears to be an internal coup that would thwart the will of the primary voters.
Biden said Friday he plans to return to the campaign trail next week and sees a path to victory over Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris was meeting with donors on Friday and his campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that “he’s in it to win it.”
