GOP makes case Biden should go now
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Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Republicans continue to use Joe Biden's debate fumble to argue that the 81-year old president is unfit to be in office now — much less into 2029.
Why it matters: They're questioning Biden's ability to handle a world at war, hitting down-ballot Democrats who have defended his mental acuity and calling for his removal through the 25th amendment — all as panic within the Democratic Party worsens.
- "My concern right now... is not just all the Americans who watched this debate, it's what foreign leaders — our enemies — saw in that debate," Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Senate GOP conference chair, told Fox News Sunday.
- Resistance to Biden from his own party, meanwhile, is mounting. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) on Tuesday became the first Democratic member of Congress to publicly call for Biden to withdraw as the party's 2024 nominee.
What's happening: The National Republican Congressional Committee pledged in a Monday memo "to pin Democrats to a conspiracy to protect a president Americans do not believe should be serving another term."
- The National Republican Senatorial Committee quickly pushed a clipped video of vulnerable Democratic senators defending Biden's fitness.
- Republicans Tim Sheehy in Montana and Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania already have ads slamming Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Bob Casey (D-Penn.) over their defense of Biden's age and acuity.
- The debate is fueling a House Judiciary Committee's effort to force the release of the president's interview with special counsel Robert Hur.
The intrigue: The NRSC has yet to put real money behind ads related to Biden's debate performance — but that could change.
- Campaign officials are closely monitoring the debate's impact on battleground Senate races, a source familiar with NRSC strategy told Axios.
Zoom in: Biden has long touted his decades of experience on the world stage and relationships with foreign leaders as key part of his appeal to voters — in contrast with Trump's more chaotic, "America-first" foreign policy style.
- Republicans see Biden's poor debate performance as a chance to chip away at that.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address a joint session of Congress later this month, and one GOP leadership aide told Axios they're now viewing the speech as a chance to test whether "Americans believe Bibi now more than Biden."
- Biden "clearly has projected weakness on the world stage," Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters the day after the debate, adding, "Everyone around the world saw the same display ... and our adversaries see that as well."
What to watch: Johnson (R-La.) told reporters Friday that Biden's cabinet should discuss using the 25th Amendment to remove him from office
- Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) filed a two-page resolution urging Vice President Kamala Harris to convene a cabinet meeting to invoke the amendment, which allows a vice president — with a majority of the cabinet — to declare a president unable to discharge their duties and make the vice president the acting president.
- Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) wrote his colleagues also urging Biden's removal ahead of the election, arguing that "a lot can still go wrong between now and Jan. 20, 2025."
- There's a next-to-zero chance that Biden's cabinet would seek to remove him — certainly not at Republicans' urging.
The other side: The Biden campaign has insisted the president will not withdraw from the race. They've pointed to a post-debate surge in grassroots fundraising and brushed off early polling on how the debate played with voters.
- "We understand the concerns. We get it. The president did not have a great night," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday.
- But, she added, Biden "knows how to do the job," and his "record proves it."
- Democrats like Tester and Casey have been largely quiet in response to the post-debate GOP attacks. Both have made efforts already to distance themselves from Biden, given the battleground states they represent.
