Biden’s ship sinks deeper as more Democrats flee

WASHINGTON—Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., initially struck a firm—if sobered—tone about last month’s presidential debate. When asked if President Joe Biden was too old to continue as the Democratic nominee, Torres brushed the question aside.

“If the president declines to leave voluntarily, then he’s our nominee, and we have to do everything we can to support him. It’s that simple.” Torres told WORLD last Tuesday. “The president has made a decision, and we have to make the most of a complicated situation.”

But just one day later, Torres’ tone changed.

“In determining how to proceed as a party, there must be a serious reckoning with the down-ballot effect of whomever we nominate. What matters is not how we feel but what the numbers tell us,” Torres wrote.

While Torres hasn’t officially asked Biden to step aside as a candidate, he joins a growing number of Democrats who once firmly backed the president but have begun to express doubts. Some of them have started to wonder outloud what the future of the party looks like if the 81-year-old incumbent continues with his reelection bid.

As of Thursday, 27 Democrats across both chambers of Congress had called on Biden to end his reelection bid. The latest is Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a high-ranking House Democrat and the former the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

“A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the president can defeat Donald Trump in November,” Schiff wrote.

Rumors about similar private calls from other high-ranking Democrats have circulated in recent days. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have each met with Biden, reportedly confronting the president with their doubts. None of them have come out of the meetings with supportive public statements.

Polls of voters reflect a similar pessimism about the president’s viability as a candidate. The Associated Press in partnership NORC Center for Public Affairs reported on Wednesday that only about 3 in 10 Democrats expressed confidence in Biden’s mental fitness for office. Worse still, 65 percent of respondents said they would prefer Biden end his candidacy and allow a younger candidate to step in.

Biden’s numbers compared to Trump have also sagged. An Emerson college poll released Wednesday and sponsored by Democrats found Trump had an edge in seven battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Of those states, Trump only won one, North Carolina, in 2020 by 1.3 percentage points.

For now, many Democrats have called on Biden to provide evidence that he can still win. Last Thursday senior aides from the Biden campaign went to Capitol Hill to convince Senate Democrats that Biden could still lead the party to victory.

It had mixed results.

Exiting the closed-door meeting, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told reporters that he wants to see a concrete gameplan for the next few months.

“I need more data, more analytics.” Blumenthal said. “I think that Biden has to take the fight to Donald Trump and assuage the American people’s concerns. Some of my concerns are allayed, some others have been deepened. It has to be more than just one press conference.”

For the time being, Biden has said he will remain in the race.

“I know I’m not a young guy. I’ve been doing this a long time” Biden said in a post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “But I’ve gotten more done than any president has in a long time. I’m willing to be judged on that.”