Mikie Sherrill on Tuesday became the seventh House Democrat to call on President Joe Biden publicly to drop out of the race, saying: "The stakes are too high - and the threat is too real - to stay silent." Photo: Getty Images The party's leaders in the US Senate and House, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, said little about hours of closed-door talks among Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday, who in any event lack the authority to push the 81-year-old president aside even if they agreed on a course of action. Biden's halting June 27 debate performance against Republican Donald Trump and low public approval have raised fresh doubts among some Democrats about his ability to win the November 5 election or to keep up with the demands of his gruelling job for another four-and-a-half years.
Representative Mikie Sherrill became the seventh House Democrat to call on Biden publicly to drop out of the race, saying in a statement, "The stakes are too high - and the threat is too real - to stay silent." Many more have expressed worries that Biden has not done enough in the ensuing days to convince voters that the debate was an aberration, rather than a true reflection of his abilities. But the president continues to argue that he is best positioned to defeat former President Trump, 78, whom he casts as a singular threat to American democracy.
Senate Majority Leader Schumer brushed off questions about Biden's fitness, saying three times, "I'm with Joe," during a brief exchange with reporters.