GOP builds new case for Biden resignation
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Republican vice presidential candidate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH). Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
As Democrats clash over whether President Biden can win in November, Republicans are saying dropping his bid is not enough — that Biden is mentally unfit to run the country another six months.
Why it matters: Even if Biden makes an historic decision and listens to the growing number of Democrats saying he will cost them the election, Republicans are laying the groundwork to pressure him to resign from office.
- "Everyone calling on Joe Biden to *stop running* without also calling on him to resign the presidency is engaged in an absurd level of cynicism," Trump's running mate Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) posted on Saturday.
- "If you can't run, you can't serve. He should resign now."
Between the lines: Republicans are readying for any possible outcome of the debate over Biden staying in the race.
Over the weekend, there has been a growing sense in Democratic circles that Biden could withdraw, but finish out his term as president.
- Republicans will keep hitting Biden as too old and unfit for the job as president – now and especially in another four years.
- They'll call Democrats hypocrites for focusing on the question of whether Biden has the energy to campaign and win, rather than asking whether he is up to the task of leader of the free world.
- The Heritage Foundation and other conservatives are preparing for legal battles over any Democratic ticket change and the Trump campaign is cutting ads slamming Vice President Kamala Harris if she becomes the nominee, as the New York Times reported.
What they're saying: "I am formally calling on Joe Biden to resign the Presidency because his continued presence in the situation room is a national security threat," Bernie Moreno, who is running for Senate in Ohio, wrote in a statement.
- "Make no mistake, [Sen. Sherrod] Brown was fully aware of Joe Biden's mental decline, covered it up," Moreno added.
- "If Biden is acknowledged as unfit for the rigors of a campaign trail, it logically follows that he is even less fit for the vastly more demanding and consequential duties of the presidency," NRSC executive director Jason Thielman told Axios.
- "Democrats don't get to have it both ways - they'll have to answer whether he should resign or if he is fit to keep his finger on the nuclear button," NRCC communications director Jack Pandol tweeted.
The other side: "Having fallen flat at the RNC Convention, Peter Thiel's Project 2025 errand boy is lashing out," a Biden campaign spokesperson told Axios in a statement.
- "It's sad really, but we understand it's difficult for him running against Joe Biden's historic, bipartisan record of delivering the infrastructure bill Trump couldn't, capping insulin at $35/ month for millions of seniors, lowering prescription drug costs and so much more," the spokesperson added.
