Support for Joe Biden is falling sharply, and many in his party are calling for the US president to step aside. But here’s one urging Biden to stand his ground: Senator and former Democrat Bernie Sanders.
“That’s enough now! Mr. Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he will be the candidate and should be the candidate,” writes Sanders in a debate article in The New York Times.
The 82-year-old senator from Vermont, who now calls himself an independent, writes that he knows Biden is old but a presidential election is not an entertainment contest.
“Yes. I know: Sir. Biden is old, prone to mistakes, walks stiffly and had a disastrous debate with Mr. Trump. But this I also know: A presidential election is not an entertainment contest. It doesn’t start or end with a 90-minute debate.”
“Has the greatest opportunity to defeat Trump”
Sanders goes on to urge Democrats to stop squabbling internally and start fighting Donald Trump and the Republicans.
“I will do everything in my power to ensure that President Biden is re-elected. Why? Despite our differences, he has been our most effective president in modern times and has the best chance of defeating Donald Trump,” Sanders wrote.
At least 19 of the Democrats’ 213 members in the House of Representatives have urged the president to drop out of the election. The criticism began after Biden’s disastrous performance in a televised debate against Trump in June.