Warner organizing talks with Senate Dems on Biden's future
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Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.). Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is organizing a group of Senate Democrats to talk about President Biden's path forward in the 2024 election, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Warner has approached lawmakers amid a groundswell of Democrats who have called for Biden to drop out of the race from the race after his debate performance last week.
- Warner, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has approached Democratic senators for a Monday night discussion about Biden, a source familiar with the discussions told Axios. Warner' push was first reported by the Washington Post.
- Biden and his allies have said he is not going to leave the 2024 race, a point the president emphasized Friday afternoon at a rally in Madison, Wis.
The big picture: Warner's efforts could represent a significant escalation in Democratic voices on Capitol Hill calling on the president to step aside.
- A few House Democrats have publicly called on Biden to step aside, and many more have said cast Biden continuing his campaign as untenable and a threat to the party's congressional campaigns. But Senate Democrats have been mostly silent this week.
- Democrats have a slim hold on a majority in the Senate and were facing several tough races to even before Biden's botched debate. Things generally have looked more favorable for Democrats to take control of the House from Republicans, but now there are concerns in that chamber as well.
Between the lines: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has publicly stood behind Biden since the June 27 debate that has destabilized the party.
- But before the debate, Schumer privately told allies that a historically early presidential debate in June would give Democrats some flexibility to recover — or find a new presidential candidate before the party's convention in August.
- Warner's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Biden campaign official pointed Axios toward statement from Democratic officials who have recently voiced support for Biden.
- "President Biden had a bad debate ... Donald Trump was an extraordinarily terrible president," Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) said in a local news interview on Friday.
- Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said on X that he was "unwilling to discard a great president, a decent man and a loving father after 50 years in public service, over a 90 minute debate."
