With the Democratic National Convention six weeks away, an expanding number of the party’s lawmakers is calling for President Joe Biden to step aside as questions swirl about the commander in chief’s mental and physical ability to fulfill the duties of the most powerful office in the world.
The Washington Post reported Monday that nine House Democrats had called for Biden to exit the presidential race as of Sunday, with the latest including Reps. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.; Adam Smith, D-W.A.; Mark Takano, D-Calif.; and Joseph Morelle, D-N.Y.
Eighteen other top Democrats have raised concerns publicly about Biden’s capacity to serve as president, including Reps. James Clyburn, D-S.C.; Nancy Pelosi D-Calif.; and Adam Schiff, D-Calif. Also speaking up were Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; and Peter Welch, D-Vt., as well as Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey.
In coming days, the number of lawmakers within the president’s own party to join the list is expected to climb, with Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., reportedly planning to lead a discussion on the topic this week, although some reports say that meeting may not happen.
Prominent Democratic strategists are calling for the party to look past Biden in November. Former Bill Clinton strategist James Carville penned a New York Times op-ed on Monday demanding that Barack Obama and Clinton host town hall-style events as a precursor to nominating a new presidential ticket at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
During CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, liberal political commentator Van Jones remarked: “I think people are hoping that [Biden] will recognize we’re running Kamala Harris for president right now. That’s who we’re running.”
In response to deteriorating support within the Democratic Party, Biden has remained defiant. During Tuesday’s “Morning Joe” on MSNBC, the president called in and stated: “The bottom line here is we’re not going anywhere. I’m not going anywhere.”
Biden then declared, “If any of these guys don’t think I should run, run against me. Go ahead, announce for president. Challenge me at the convention.”
During a sit-down interview Friday with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, the president proclaimed that only divine intervention would compel him to quit the presidential race.
“If the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race. The Lord Almighty’s not coming down,” Biden said.
Meanwhile, reports continued about the White House’s effort to keep details on Biden’s health under wraps.
White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor publicly has given the president nothing but clean bills of health since the beginning of his term in January 2021. O’Connor declared in February that Biden is “a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.”
But it has since come to light that O’Connor was personally involved with the Biden family’s business ventures, having helped to secure $600,000 in 2017 for the president’s younger brother, James, through a deal with Americore, a rural hospital corporation.
House investigators later found that $200,000 of the deal wound up in Biden’s bank account under a check from his brother labeled as a loan repayment.
In addition, after The New York Times requested official White House visitor logs, it discovered that an “expert on Parkinson’s disease from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center visited the White House eight times in eight months from last summer through this spring, including at least once for a meeting with President Biden’s physician,” O’Connor.
During the July 5 episode of “This Week on the Hill,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, reiterated his call for the president to be removed from office under the 25th Amendment due to his apparent cognitive decline.
“[A]ll of us take no great joy in recognizing what is very clear for everybody, unfortunately in the entire world now, is that our current president does not have his faculties and cannot, I think, carry out the powers and duties of the office,” Roy said, adding:
That is why the 25th Amendment exists. I believe it is incumbent upon us to recognize that and to pursue protection of our own country with 200 days at a minimum remaining in President Biden’s administration. He carries the nuclear codes. He makes decisions about our safety and security. He is the commander in chief. He is the one negotiating with [other] countries. He’s engaging in Ukraine and … with Russia and China [and] in the Middle East and Iran and Israel. He’s making terrible decisions about Israel right now. He is very clearly diminished.
Roy went on to assert that former President Donald Trump’s chances of being elected in November likely will be unaffected if Vice President Kamala Harris takes the reins as commander in chief.
“I think President Trump would be equally or even stronger against … Kamala Harris, even if she were to be put in place,” Roy said. “And more importantly, we have a constitutional duty to make sure that we don’t have a president who is undermining our national security while he has no faculties there.”
Originally published by The Washington Stand
