Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and former House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., showed strong support for President Biden during television appearances on Sunday, urging him to remain in the race despite his widely criticized debate performance.
During their appearances on CNN’s “State of the Union,” both lawmakers acknowledged that Biden had a “bad night” on Thursday. However, they dismissed growing calls for him to withdraw from the race.
Pelosi attributed Biden’s struggles to former President Trump’s “lies” during the debate, while Clyburn suggested Biden’s poor showing resulted from “preparation overload.”
In her interview with CNN host Dana Bash, Pelosi responded to a poll indicating that 72% of Americans believe Biden is no longer mentally capable of holding office. “Well, what do they think about the other guy?” Pelosi asked. “Do they think he has the integrity to be president after that performance? Let us not judge a presidency based on one debate.”
Pelosi emphasized the challenge of countering Trump’s falsehoods during the debate. “The fact is, the reaction to the lies of Donald Trump is something that people are focusing on, and to have a debate where you have to spend half your time negating what he said because he knows nothing about the truth,” she said. “On one side of the screen, you have integrity; on the other, dishonesty.”
Clyburn, who served as the House assistant Democratic leader until last year, also downplayed Biden’s debate performance in his interview with Bash. He expressed complete confidence in Biden’s ability to defeat Trump in November and lead the country for another four years.
“I do not believe that Joe Biden has a problem leading for the next four years because he’s done a great job leading for the past three years,” Clyburn stated. “Joe Biden should continue to run on his record.”
While acknowledging Biden’s “bad performance” on Thursday, Clyburn explained. “I’ve been around these things. I’ve been a part of debate preparation before, and I know when I see preparation overload,” he said. “That’s exactly what was going on the other night.
I saw Joe Biden grappling for words, phrases, and even numbers that he was loaded up with. But today, he arrived in North Carolina, freewheeling, and he captivated the audience.”
Despite Biden’s growing calls to drop out of the presidential race following his debate performance, top Democrats in Congress and nationwide support his bid publicly.
The New York Times editorial board and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial board have argued that Biden staying in the race is a “reckless gamble” and urged him to drop out for the nation’s good.
However, the pressure on Biden to withdraw has so far been external. Like Pelosi and Clyburn, prominent Democrats publicly support his presidential campaign.
