“For the Good of the Country”: First Democratic US Senator Calls for…

In the debate over President Joe Biden’s health, Republicans asked for information from three senior White House staffers. Support for Biden continues to crumble even within his own party.

For the first time, a Democratic U.S. senator has publicly called on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the White House race. “For the good of the country, I call on President Biden to withdraw from the race,” Senator Peter Welch of Vermont wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Post on Wednesday (local time). Amid the controversy over Biden’s health, Republicans have demanded information from senior White House staff.

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee wrote to three of its staffers on Wednesday asking them to make themselves available for closed-door comments later this month. The committee, chaired by James Comer, said the three, according to a former presidential aide, had created a “protective bubble” around him. Biden’s physical and mental fitness has been under scrutiny since the 81-year-old’s performance in a televised duel with Republican Donald Trump was rated poor.

The committee’s punitive requests — so-called “subpoenas” — went to Biden’s deputy chief of staff, Annie Tomasini, counselor Ashley Williams, and first lady Jill Biden’s counselor, Anthony Bernal. The emails were first reported by Axios. Comer also expressed concern that the recipient of the emails was “one of many White House staffers who have taken it upon themselves to lead the country when the president cannot.” Presidential spokesman Ian Sams said the emails were a “baseless political ploy” by Comer to get media attention.

Report: Schumer believes Biden replacement is possible

According to a report, the Democratic majority leader in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, is also open to donors about replacing Biden. This came through the Axios portal, citing two unnamed sources. However, in a statement following the publication of the Axios report, Schumer reiterated his support for Biden. “As I have stated repeatedly, both publicly and privately, I support President Biden and remain committed to defeating Donald Trump in November,” Schumer said in a statement released by his office.

An influential party donor reported that top Democrats were planning to make alarmist statements after the NATO summit without directly mentioning Schumer. “There’s going to be a bloodbath,” warned one insider, given the mounting pressure on candidates even in previously safe states. House and Senate members up for reelection fear Biden’s troubles could also hurt their electoral prospects.

Performance without a prompter

Today, the Democrat faces a tough test: the final press conference of the NATO summit. There, Biden will have to answer questions from the press without a teleprompter. It is precisely at such moments that he tends to make slips of the tongue and blunders. Biden has also announced a new television interview to show that he can stand up to a challenge. Next Monday evening (Tuesday night), he wants to answer questions from NBC journalist Lester Holt. Last week, Biden gave his first post-debate interview with ABC and insisted that only God could make him withdraw.

Since his disastrous televised duel with Trump in late June, Biden has faced growing controversy over his physical and mental fitness for the presidency. On Wednesday, Hollywood star George Clooney, a major Democratic supporter, called on Biden to withdraw from the campaign trail in a guest article for The New York Times.

Nancy Pelosi also distances herself from it.

Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi declined in a television interview to say explicitly whether Biden should stay in the race. Speaking to Morning Joe, arguably Biden’s favorite political breakfast show, the 84-year-old said: “It’s up to the president to decide whether or not he’s going to run.” “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision,” she added. “Time is running out.” When the moderator pointed out that Biden had apparently already decided to stay in the race, Pelosi responded evasively.

Biden spoke hoarsely during the televised debate, repeatedly slurring his words and failing to complete sentences. Despite the criticism, the oldest president in US history (81 years old) says he is “determined” to stay in the race for the presidential election in November. (APA/Reuters/DPA)