Tipsheet

Here's Scott Jennings' Message for Democrats Calling on Biden to Withdraw From the Race

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  July 05, 2024 5:00 PM

On CNN, Scott Jennings has been the conservative voice consistently highlighting concerns with President Joe Biden, especially after last week's debate performance.The reelection campaign has thus been scrambling and even Biden's fellow Democrats are calling on him to step aside as the nominee. During his Thursday appearance on "The Lead with Jake Tapper," Jennings had a message for such Democrats, and what it is they might actually be saying. 

"All these Democrats, by the way, who think he should drop out of the race, what they're actually saying is, if they stop and think about it, he really ought to resign the office because if he's not competent to run and be president in January, he's not competent to do it today," Jennings said during his appearance. 

"This is not a comms problem," he emphasized. "This is a candidate problem and it is a presidential problem right now."

Host Erica Hill also brought up previous comments from Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) to ask Jennings "is it your sense that more Democrats are starting to feel that same way as Congressman Huffman, that this is not really about Joe Biden, this is about a much bigger issue?"

Jennings believes "there are Democrats who have lots of feelings," including those who "are worried about the country and worried about whether Joe Biden is running the White House right now." Such has indeed been a concern on the minds of many, with Jennings acknowledging it's a "legitimate question to have no matter whether you're Republican or a Democrat." As Jennings also asked, "if [Biden's] not [running the country], who is?"

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While questions as to who is actually running the country are concerns that Republicans and Democrats alike have and have had for months, those are not the only "feelings" that Democrats have. Biden's issues are also a problem when it comes to the politics of it all, especially as we're just four months away from the election and former and potentially future President Donald Trump continues to lead in the polls. 

"I'm sure they're politically self-interested," Jennings said about Democrats. "The latest polling across the board has Joe Biden down six points to Donald Trump. That's landslide territory. He'll get wiped out. The House will get wiped out. The Senate will get wiped out. And I'm sure there's a bunch of Democrats out there that don't want to go down with his ship."

A poll released on Wednesday from The New York Times/Siena College shows Trump leading Biden by 49-43 percent among likely voters. 

Then there's a poll from The Wall Street Journal shows him leading Biden 48-42 percent with voters, and leading by 49-43 percent against Biden per CNN's own poll. 

"So I think it's legitimate to have concerns about the state of the government today. Who's running it? Can he continue to serve? And also to worry about your own skin. I mean, there are politicians after all. It's what they do best. So I think they're having both -- both fears right now," Jennings summarized.

In sharing that appearance, Jennings again emphasized that clear point about immediate concerns the country has with Biden in office. "If you are a Democrat - publicly or privately - calling for the president to drop his campaign, you ought to be calling on him to resign. If he’s not competent to serve in January, he’s not competent to serve now."

On Tuesday, Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first sitting Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw from the race. Many more House Democrats are preparing to do the same, as we also learned this week. 

The segment also discussed news coverage about concerns with the president that raise questions not only if he'll be up for the job for another term, but when it comes to finishing out his current term. Such reports keep coming. On Friday, Axios' Alex Thompson put out a report that included quotes straight from a former Biden aide.

"Annie, Ashley and Anthony create a protective bubble around POTUS. He's staffed so closely that he's lost all independence. POTUS relies on staff to nudge him with reminders of who he's meeting, including former staffers and advisers who Biden should easily remember without a reminder from Annie," this aide said, speaking about current staffers.

Jennings called attention to that report over his X account, as well as Thompson's overall coverage.