3 ay önce

Democrats suggest VP Harris as potential alternative to Biden against Trump

Represantative Adam Schiff urges President Joe Biden to decide whether to run or pass the torch to another candidate.

Reuters

President Biden must first decide whether he will run again, Democratic US Represantative Adam Schiff says. / Photo: Reuters

An embattled US President Joe Biden has faced escalating pressure from fellow Democrats worried about his candidacy, which he aimed to ease with a pair of campaign stops in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

Biden, 81, has faced growing calls to end his re-election campaign after a halting performance in a June 27 debate with Republican Donald Trump, 78, raised questions about his ability to do the job for another four years.

He has vowed to stay in the race, dismissing calls for him to drop out as "nonsense" in a fundraising email on Saturday.

Democrats on Sunday suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris, seen as the likeliest candidate to replace Biden in the Nov. 5 election were he to bow out, could perform well.

The coming week is crucial, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said on CNN's "State of the Union."

He encouraged the president to try to hold a town hall or news conference to convince voters he is "the old Joe Biden."

"I do think the president needs to do more," Murphy said. "I do think the clock is ticking." A much-anticipated Friday Biden interview with ABC News did little to ease the concerns of lawmakers and donors.

Trump, allies go after Harris as Biden replacement talk builds

Biden needs to 'make a decision'

Democratic US Representative Adam Schiff has told NBC News he felt Vice President Kamala Harris could win "overwhelmingly" if she ran against former President Donald Trump, but that President Joe Biden needed to make a decision about his own candidacy.

"I think she (Harris) very well could win overwhelmingly, but before we get into a decision about who else it should be, the president needs to make a decision about whether it's him," Schiff told NBC News on Sunday.

"Either he (Biden) has to win overwhelmingly, or he has to pass the torch to someone who can."

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has scheduled a meeting Sunday with senior House Democrats to discuss the president's candidacy.

In Friday's interview, Biden said only the "Lord Almighty" could persuade him to drop out, dismissing the prospect that Democratic leaders could join forces to try to talk him into standing down.