Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colorado, acknowledged Tuesday that he has told his Senate Democratic colleagues he doesn’t believe President Biden can beat former President Trump in the November election and that doing so could jeopardize their control of Congress.
Sen. Bennet, along with Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.), told Senate Democrats at their weekly lunch meeting earlier in the day that he doesn’t believe the president can defeat Trump.
The Colorado Democrat made the remarks in an interview on Tuesday night, becoming the first sitting Senate Democrat to publicly question Biden’s ability to win following his dismal debate performance nearly two weeks ago.
“It’s true that I said that. I said that behind closed doors,” Bennett said.CNN’s Kaitlan Collins“When I think about the country, this election campaign is on a very worrying trajectory.”
“Donald Trump is going to win this election, probably in a landslide victory and take control of the House and the Senate,” Bennet said. “To me, this isn’t about polls. This isn’t about politics. This is a moral issue about the future of our country, and I think it’s critical that we come together and confront the issues that are before us if we’re going to put this country on a path to re-electing Donald Trump.”
Bennet stopped short of calling on Biden to step down as the party nominee, as some House Democrats have done. He said the party is in Washington this week “to have this discussion.” But his colleagues’ concerns are clear, especially since returning to Washington after the July 4 recess.
But little came of a Senate Democratic luncheon on Tuesday, according to lawmakers who said the meeting provided few clear answers and that for the time being Democrats are left in limbo with Biden making it clear he has no intention of giving up on running for a second term.
“I don’t think the White House has done anything since that disastrous debate to actually demonstrate that they have a plan to win this election, that they have a credible plan to win the battleground states that we need to win this election, and they need to,” Bennet said.
Despite Bennet’s gloomy outlook, some Senate Democrats remain confident in Biden’s chances of winning and continue to vocally support him. Asked about Biden three times during his weekly press conference, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told reporters, “I’m with Joe.”
