Rachel Maddow urges dithering Democrats to act now if they want to drop Biden
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, who supports Joe Biden, has taken a hard line against undecided Democrats to replace the presidential nominee.
Maddow stressed that time is running out to nominate a new candidate so they can campaign on Monday’s episode of her primetime show on the liberal news network.
President Biden is increasingly being told to withdraw from the race after his disastrous debate with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
The newscaster, who once insisted that Biden is not too old to hold office because he can ride a bike, joined calls for the president to make a quick decision.
“I’ll be honest with you, if the Democrats are going to change their nominee, maybe they should, right? Don’t take my advice on this, but it seems to me that common sense would be the worst possible solution to just wait it out,” Maddow said.
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow urged Biden and Democrats to make a decision on who will be the presidential nominee as soon as possible so they can begin their campaign
President Joe Biden is facing increasing calls to withdraw from the race after his disastrous debate against Donald Trump
“If Vice President Kamala Harris or someone else takes over the top of the ticket instead of President Biden, that candidate needs plenty of time to actually campaign. And it’s July.
“So I don’t know if the Democrats are going to replace Joe Biden at the top of the ticket or if they should. The only person who can make that decision is the nominee himself, President Biden. But I do know that the window to make that decision is now, and it’s about this wide.
“Now speak up or shut up, Democrats, if you really want to have a chance to compete here, because in the meantime, Republicans are blissfully happy to let their criminal, the man who rioted on Congress, walk away. They’re essentially letting him walk away while he awaits sentencing on a whole bunch of dozens of unrelated felony charges.”
Pressure to replace Biden is mounting after the debate, during which the 81-year-old stumbled over his words and lost his thread several times.
Major Democratic Party donors have threatened to pull the plug unless Biden steps aside.
“For Biden’s own good and the good of the country, he should resign immediately,” Whitney Tilson, a major Democratic donor and former hedge fund manager, told DailyMail.com.
“The fact that it’s been three days and Biden has still done nothing to reassure us confirms my worst fears.”
The newscaster (pictured in a 2010 interview), who once insisted that Biden is not too old to hold office because he can ride a bike, joined calls for the president to make an urgent decision
A CBS News/YouGov poll conducted in the two days following the CNN debate found that 72 percent of registered voters now do not believe Biden has the “mental and cognitive health to serve as president,” up from 65 percent in early June.
Some of the most popular names being mentioned for a Biden replacement include Governors Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer.
Vice President Kamala Harris is the natural successor to the presidency if Biden leaves office during his term. But Democrats have criticized Harris’ performance for years and argue that she should not replace Biden before the election.
Biden’s Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez claimed that if Biden were to leave office, only Harris would be able to use the funds raised by his campaign.
Under Federal Election Commission rules, the $91.2 million Biden-Harris raised through May 31 is not transferable to another candidate.