Anti-Trump Republicans put pressure on Democrats after Biden debate debacle
Biden defies debate disappointment at rally
While some Democrats called on him to withdraw after a disastrous debate, a defiant President Joe Biden vowed he would beat Donald Trump.
As Democrats continue to vacillate over whether to drop President Joe Biden as their candidate for the 2024 presidential election, Republicans, who have sharply criticized former President Donald Trump, are expressing frustration that Democratic leaders have not taken action following the president’s poor performance at last week’s debate.
A small group of former Republican lawmakers and conservative commentators who previously pledged their support for Biden, dubbed “Never Trumpers,” have expressed deep concern that he will not defeat former President Donald Trump in November’s election, citing age concerns fueled by his rocky performance on the debate stage.
These Republicans are angry at Democratic officials who, in their view, have been trying for months, not just for a few days, to downplay and dismiss serious questions about the competence and electability of the 81-year-old Biden.
“They kind of made light of all the concerns about his age,” said Health Mayo, founder of the center-right anti-Trump group Principles First. “When he came out like that, you really felt like the campaign had blindsided not just the Democratic Party, but the rest of the country.”
Biden’s campaign team has repeatedly stated that the president will not drop out of the race for the 2024 presidential nomination.
In the days following the debate, prominent Democrats largely expressed their unwavering support for Biden, with leaders including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) arguing that the debate was a “bad night” for Biden rather than a campaign-ending event.
Sarah Matthews, a former deputy press secretary for Trump who has become an outspoken critic of her former boss, doesn’t buy that message.
“Stop throwing excuses at the wall and see what sticks,” Matthews said as she criticized Democratic leaders. “This was not one night. You can’t blame it on this wheezing or this cold. Ultimately, the responsibility lies with the president.”
She and a handful of other anti-Trump conservatives told USA TODAY they believe Biden should drop out of the 2024 presidential race and give a younger Democratic frontrunner a chance to get on the ballot. They suggested governors from Republican and swing states such as Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Jared Polis of Colorado and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania.
“The only Democrat who could potentially lose to Trump is Biden,” Matthews said, but she believes Biden can still win. “I’m just saying the Democrats are taking a risk with him as their candidate.”
Still, conservatives worried about a possible Trump return to the White House say they have no illusions that Democrats will listen to their pitch to dump Biden. The Biden team has tapped moderate conservatives like former Rep. Adam Kinzinger as surrogates and hired a full-time Republican outreach director to work on reaching out to members of the GOP ahead of Thursday’s debate. But those efforts do not mean Democrats will make fundamental decisions based on conservative concerns.
Many Trump opponents and Republicans who have built their careers on opposing Trump acknowledged that they are largely subject to the whims of a party they once fought against.
Former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, a Republican who at one point considered running for president on the consensus ticket of the No Labels group, said Democrats deserved time to “process this as a family.”
He added, however, that they are “running out of time.” The general election is less than five months away. The Democratic National Convention, where the party will officially choose its nominee, is just over a month away.
No matter what Democrats do, they will never vote for Trump. Republicans said their mission remains the same: to make sure Trump is not re-elected. Members of the informal club said their message to their Republican and moderate voters will continue to be based on arguments that Trump is a danger to democracy., This is especially true as he faces state and federal charges alleging that he attempted to rig the 2020 election.
But will Trump’s supporters never turn away from the Democrats if Biden is the nominee? Mayo predicted his colleagues would still do everything in their power to put him in office, joking that he would rather “vote for a stump” than for Trump.
Duncan acknowledged that this effort was “a lot easier last week.”
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