Senate Minority Leader Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 in Senate Democratic leadership, said Monday that President Biden’s debate performance “raises a lot of questions” about his competency as a general-election candidate, but added that he would reserve judgment until he heard from his colleagues.
Asked if he had concerns about Biden’s physical or mental ability to run the country, Durbin said he needed to reassure his colleagues and voters.
“I watched the debate, and a lot of questions came up, and he’s trying to answer those questions, and in some ways he’s doing so very effectively, but in other ways he’s not doing so effectively,” Durbin told reporters at the Capitol on Monday.
Lawmakers return to Washington on Monday after a week-long recess amid big questions about Biden.
Durbin declined to say whether Biden should be the Democratic nominee in November’s presidential election, noting that Democratic senators are divided on the issue.
“I spoke to 12 of my colleagues and they all had different opinions,” he said.
Durbin also said Biden appeared to be taking Democrats’ concerns seriously, despite complaints from some senators, including Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont), that the Biden campaign was downplaying the concerns many Democrats expressed after the debate.
“I think he’s taking this as seriously as he should be,” Durbin said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) also reiterated his support for Biden, speaking to reporters at the Capitol.
“As I’ve said before, I support Joe,” Schumer said as he entered the building and headed for the elevator.
Schumer told reporters in Syracuse last week that he had worked closely with Biden and “got a lot done for America and for Central New York.”
Durbin said the question of whether Biden is fit to lead the Democratic nomination race in November would be debated at length this week.
And he said he still thinks Biden can beat Trump.
“At the end of the day, when the American people take a long look at Donald Trump, they don’t want to go back to those four years, and I hope they will make sure they understand that this Supreme Court decision has created a different presidency than the last time we were president. This is a dangerous situation for our democracy,” Durbin said, referring to the Supreme Court’s recent decision granting immunity to Trump from criminal prosecution related to his official duties.
