Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), with the endorsement of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), on Thursday night, became the second Senate Democrat to call on President Biden to withdraw from the presidential race.
“Montana citizens trust me to do the right thing and I take that responsibility seriously. I have worked with President Biden when he was strong for Montana and have never been afraid to stand up to him when he’s wrong,” he said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “While I appreciate his commitment to public service and our country, I do not believe President Biden should seek reelection.”
Tester shared his plans in advance with House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who then told Tester to do what he thought was best, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.
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Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) called on President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. (Getty Images)
The Montana senator is seeking to defend his seat in a state that twice voted for former President Trump and is facing one of the most competitive races of the 2024 election.
Tester’s race is rated “close” by nonpartisan political handicappers. Cook Political ReportThis category also includes three competitive races in Ohio, Nevada and Michigan.
He will face off against Montana Republican Senate candidate and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy in November.
The senator recently told Fox News Digital that an internal investigation showed “he’s working hard,” but did not disclose the data.
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Our testers are taking part in one of the most competitive races in the country. (Anna Moneymaker)
He also rejected the idea that his race was competitive, insisting that “my race is not in a precarious position.”
Earlier this month, Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont) became the first Democrat in the Senate to call on Biden to withdraw. “In the national interest, I call on President Biden to withdraw from the race,” Welch wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post.
Tester is the 22nd Democrat to call on Biden to resign, joining Sens. Adam Schiff of California, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, Ed Case of Hawaii, Angie Craig of Minnesota, Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Raul Grijalva of Arizona, Jim Himes of Connecticut, Mike Levin of California, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Scott Peters of California, Brittany Pettersen of Colorado, Mike Quigley of Illinois, Pat Ryan of New York, Brad Schneider of Illinois, Hillary Scholten of Michigan, Miki Sherrill of New Jersey, Adam Smith of Washington, Eric Sorensen of Illinois and Greg Stanton of Arizona.
Senate Democrats recently held a special meeting with senior advisers to the Biden campaign at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).
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Senator Welch was the first Democratic senator to call on Biden to drop out of the race. (Getty Images)
Notably, Tester did not attend the meeting, telling Fox News Digital that he would instead be meeting with aerospace defense company Northrop Grumman to discuss “Project Sentinel,” presumably a reference to the company’s work on the US Air Force’s LGM-35A Sentinel weapon system.
After the debate, Democratic senators said their concerns remained. “Some of our concerns have been allayed, but others have deepened,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., explained after the debate.
Biden’s debate performance was widely criticized. (Getty Images)
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“President Biden must prove to me, and to the American people, that he can get the job done for the next four years,” Tester said in a statement last month, just a week after Biden’s poor performance in a debate with Trump.
His call for Biden to drop out of the race came just 10 days after he first called on the president to prove himself.
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