Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) has a message for his fellow Democrats about the panic around President Biden’s candidacy: slow down and take a deep breath.
Garamendi joined Fox News Saturday to discuss the ongoing debate over Biden’s ability to take on former President Trump and serve another four years as debate fallout continues.
“I would say hold on here. Let’s not get into a panic. Let’s understand the enormous importance and the important work that Biden has done and what he can do in the days ahead,” he said as a message to House Democrats.
“Slow this down, this feeding frenzy that’s going on by the press and by many of my colleagues,” Garamendi continued. “Slow down, take a deep breath. Let’s take a look at what this president has done and also what he’s managed to do since that debate.”
Garamendi’s comments come as a growing number of House Democrats have called on Biden to step aside and allow someone else to have the opportunity to run.
Reps. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) all have publicly called on Biden to step aside.
Doggett, the first to make that call, said he hoped the debate would help the president’s campaign, but that he was left disappointed.
Grijalva said he will still support Biden but thinks it’s time the party chooses someone new. Quigley asked Biden to help the country by preventing “utter catastrophe” by letting someone else run.
Moulton said Thursday that Biden should follow in former President George Washington’s footsteps and step aside for new leaders to take on Trump. Craig said she doesn’t believe Biden can beat Trump and there is “too much at stake.”
Since the debate, Biden and his campaign have been in clean-up mode. They’ve tried to appeal to displeased voters through energetic rallies and an on-camera interview Friday, neither of which have stifled the calls for him to resign.
In the recent interview, Biden admits that the debate was one bad night. Garamendi said, “Each and every one of us has a bad day or bad night.”
“He’s carrying on the task of being president, which is a 24/7 task. He also is doing the campaign,” the California lawmaker said. “Not easy to both of these, but he has. And he has shown since the debate that he is strong on the stage.”