Questions over Biden’s mental fitness continue as Dems wrestle with debate performance

WASHINGTON (TND) — Some Democrats are now openly calling for President Joe Biden to end his campaign following a debate performance sounding off alarm bells for some in the party.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, became the first sitting Democrat to call for President Biden to end his campaign. He released a statement calling for it shortly before the White House continued to field questions about the concerns at a press briefing.

VOTE | What should Biden’s political future be after his debate performance?

We understand, we’re not taking away from what you all saw, or what the American people all saw, we understand, it was a bad night. It is not uncommon for incumbents to have a bad night on their first debate,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

It comes on the heels of famed Watergate Journalist Carl Bernstein relaying accounts from anonymous sources close to the President describing a cognitive decline.

“The Joe Biden we saw is not a one-off, there have been 15-20 occasions in the last year and a half that the President has appeared somewhat as he did in that horror show that we witnessed,” Bernstein told CNN this week.

Democrats are getting more vocal as they wrestle with whether Biden should remain the candidate at the top of the ticket.

“What I’m stressing is it has to be his decision, but we have to be honest with ourselves that it wasn’t just a horrible night, but I won’t go beyond that I just want him to appreciate at this time just how much it impacts not just his race, but all the other races coming in November,” said Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill.

Some Republicans have called on Biden’s cabinet to use the Constitution’s 25th amendment to remove him from office.

“This was a wake-up call to many of us, a wake-up call among other things to the fact that it’s well past time to invoke the 25th Amendment,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said following the debate.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, filed a resolution urging the Vice President and cabinet to remove Biden from office. A vote would put Democrats on record about where they stand on the President’s ability to serve out the rest of his term and a potential second.

A new CNN post-debate poll paints a bleak picture about how voters feel. The poll shows 75% of people think a different Democrat has a better chance of winning in November over Biden.