Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state on Friday night blasted President Joe Biden's campaign as “political malice” for allowing the president to continue his reelection campaign despite concerns about his mental health.
Smith appeared on CNN's “Anderson Cooper 360” to discuss his stance on calling for Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race. During the interview with host Anderson Cooper, Smith agreed that more Democrats will likely call for Biden to drop out, then criticized the Biden campaign. (Related article: “The president should stop campaigning”: Another Democratic senator voices opposition to Biden)
“I think what we're witnessing here is the second-biggest act of political malfeasance by the Biden campaign that this country has ever seen. Certainly the biggest act was the Republican rallying around Donald Trump after January 6th. But leading up to the debate, there were concerns about the president. The debate was disastrous and it hasn't improved since then,” Smith said.
“Look, we had a great message. Joe Biden has done a great job as president. What's clear now is that he's not the person to be able to deliver that message and he's going to be plagued by questions about his health,” Smith continued. “Look, I saw the speech that Donald Trump gave last night. Think about that. Joe Biden was not equipped to do that debate.
Smith noted that the talk of Biden's transition was putting “pressure” on other Democratic campaigns around the country, adding that “it's time for the president to step aside.” Cooper then fired back at Democrats, asking them to clarify whether they thought there was “misconduct” before or after the debate.
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“I don't know. I wasn't around him. They were around him. What I do know for sure is that the moment Joe Biden walked off the debate stage, it was clear to everyone that he was no longer a viable candidate that we should have,” Smith said.
“Since then, rather than having an honest conversation within the Democratic Party about the best way forward; [the] “The campaign has persisted, said it's not a problem, ignored it, didn't address it,” Smith continued. “Despite the growing pressure to choose a different candidate, they continue to push forward. Polls show that 55 to 70 percent of Democrats believe the president should step aside at this point. At this point in the campaign, you can't get away with it.”
Democrats began voicing concerns about Biden following his poor performance in a debate with former President Donald Trump in late June, when he struggled to finish sentences and often froze up mid-sentence.
Post-debate CBS/YouGov poll found Seventy-two percent of Americans believe Biden does not have the mental and cognitive health necessary to serve in the presidency, up seven points from the previous survey in early June.
Since the incident, calls for Biden to resign have flooded the president's campaign, with more than a dozen Democratic congressmen and several Democratic senators voicing their dissatisfaction with Biden remaining the nominee. Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio became the third senator to join that list on Friday, issuing a statement online saying, “I believe the president should stop campaigning.”
But despite these urgings, Biden and his team remain adamant that they will continue with their reelection campaign.
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