Biden under siege as the THIRD elected Democrat turns on him and issues grim warning after ‘very painful’ debate against Trump: ‘The damage has been done’
A third sitting Democrat has turned against President Joe Biden, saying the “painful debate” against Trump has cost Democrats dearly.
Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, 36, said KATU News that she believes in President Biden’s performance in last week’s election.
She told the broadcaster that she feels “the damage has been done” and that she only watched the debate for “five very painful minutes.”
Despite her scathing remarks, she stopped short of calling on him to withdraw, saying Democrats should accept the results of the primary.
Gluesenkamp Perez said: ‘A core principle of democracy is that you accept the outcome of the election, but the reality is the primaries have already happened and Biden is the nominee.’
Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, pictured here, told KATU News she believes last week’s debate performance cost Biden the election
Despite her scathing comments, she stopped short of calling on Biden to withdraw, saying Democrats must accept the results of the primary.
She added: ‘About 50 million Americans watched that debate. I was one of them for about five very painful minutes.
“We all saw what we saw, you can’t unsee it, and I think the truth is Biden is going to lose to Trump. I know that’s hard, but I think the damage was done by that debate.”
It comes after Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, 41, said he expects Trump to win after Biden’s terrible performance during the debate.
“After the first presidential debate, many Democrats are panicking about whether President Joe Biden should resign as their party’s nominee,” he wrote for a Maine newspaper.
“Biden’s poor performance during the debate was not a surprise,” he continued.
“It didn’t upset me as much as it did others, because the outcome of this election has been clear to me for months: Even though I don’t plan on voting for him, Donald Trump is going to win. And I’m OK with that.”
Golden this week became the second current member of Congress to turn against Biden.
Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett, 77, of Texas, stepped forward for the first time Tuesday and compared the difficult decision he said Biden must make for the good of the nation to one made decades ago by another sitting Democratic president.
“I represent the heart of a congressional district that was once held by Lyndon Johnson,” the Texas native said in a statement. “Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw.
“President Biden should do the same,” he continued. “While much of his work has been transformative, he has promised to navigate a period of transition.”
Lyndon B. Johnson decided to withdraw from the race in 1968, as the mounting casualties in the Vietnam War made him extremely unpopular.
Biden is facing declining support after his disastrous performance during Thursday’s debate.
“He has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of leaders from which a candidate can be chosen to unite our country through an open, democratic process,” Doggett said in his statement.
“My decision to make these strong concerns public was not taken lightly and in no way diminishes my respect for all that President Biden has accomplished.”
Gluesenkamp Perez won a traditionally red seat in 2022 when she defeated Republican Joe Kent
Joe Biden uses teleprompters to discuss extreme weather at DC Emergency Operations Center in Washington
“After the first presidential debate, many Democrats are panicking about whether President Joe Biden should resign as the party’s nominee,” Golden wrote
Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett has become the first sitting Democrat in office to call for Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race.
President Joe Biden reportedly feels ‘humiliated’ and ‘painfully aware’ of his image after his debate over the car crash that left him stumbling over his words and losing his train of thought
“Knowing that President Biden, unlike Trump, has always been committed to our country first and not himself, I hope he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw.
I respectfully request him to do so.’
While other former Democrats and liberal pundits speculate about Biden’s ability to retain the presidency into 2028 should he win, no other sitting Democratic candidate has gone as far in their pronouncements as Doggett.
Doggett, 77, is a respected member of the Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives, having served on the caucus since 1995.
He also praised Biden’s work as president, but ultimately conceded that Joe’s debate performance was not that of a competitive candidate.
The president retreated to Camp David with his wife, children and grandchildren to take a break from the campaign process and consider his post-debate options.
“President Biden continues to trail Democratic senators significantly in key states and is trailing Donald Trump in most polls,” he said.
“I had hoped that the debate would provide momentum to change that. It didn’t.”
“Rather than reassuring voters, the president failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies.”
Jack Pandol, communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, criticized Doggett’s announcement for coming too late.
“The cowards in the Democratic caucus spent every day after the debate in witness protection, too afraid to say what was on their minds,” Pandol said in a statement.
“Americans remember that House Democrats were complicit in covering up and manipulating the president’s condition, and voters are ready to punish them in November.”