Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), a co-chair for the Biden reelection campaign, has been one of President Joe Biden's most ardent defenders as others have been calling on him to step aside and let a different candidate serve as the Democratic nominee. Coons continues to offer that Biden is sticking in the race, including with his social media posts, though his comments from Friday were nevertheless quite curious.
"I fully support the President. He's told me he's in it to win it. I'm with him 100% because I know he can beat Trump just like he did last time," Coons posted on Friday afternoon.
It's a line that Biden has himself used plenty of times before, except the country is in a much more dire position thanks to Biden, and the polls also suggest that there's some buyer's remorse involved.
As of early Saturday morning, former and potentially future President Donald Trump leads Biden by +3.0. On July 19, 2020, Biden led by +8.6, per RealClearPolling. While it may be a rematch of the same two candidates, this looks to be a much different election.
I fully support the President. He's told me he's in it to win it. I'm with him 100% because I know he can beat Trump just like he did last time.
— Chris Coons (@ChrisCoonsforDE) July 19, 2024
The post is perhaps even more potentially suspect given what Coons said not long before his political account put out such a post.
Coons offered other reassurances on Friday as well, but the defenses may be falling apart.
As The Hill reported:
“This is an internal party matter and a matter of the campaign that is playing out very publicly. I think our president is weighing what he should weigh, which is: Who is the best candidate to win in November and to carry forward the Democratic Party’s values and priorities in this campaign?” Coons said at the Aspen Security Forum.
He made his remarks after a panel moderator what factors Biden is considering as he decides how to proceed with his campaign amidst calls by Democratic lawmakers to drop out of the race.
Coons reiterated his support for Biden and extolled his record of the last 3 1/2 years.
“He has been an exceptional president. He has campaigned effectively, he has led effectively,” Coons said, citing Biden’s leadership at the NATO summit in Washington last week.
“He chaired … meeting after meeting, three days of the NATO summit — strongest NATO has ever been — did a press conference, did campaign events, did campaign rallies, and there are folks still saying he’s not strong enough or capable enough to be our next president. I disagree,” he said.
Coons applauding that Biden has been able to take part in such matters means he's doing the bare minimum. It's not that much to celebrate, especially with all the gaffes involved.
An increasing amount of top Democrats, from both chambers of Congress, as well as donors and figures like former President Barack Obama, have been getting involved to try to urge Biden to exit the race. His family is even reportedly getting involved in the conversations as well.
A Thursday report from Axios indicated that Biden could be making a decision about whether to stay in the race this weekend. His campaign has continued to insist Biden is staying put, and the president himself put out a statement on Friday indicating as much as well.
Many of the Democrats calling for Biden to step aside are facing tough reelection prospects themselves, and there's a fear that Biden staying in the race could impact down-ballot races as well. On Friday, Ohio's Sen. Sherrod Brown became the latest vulnerable Democratic incumbent running for reelection to speak up, with New Mexico's Sen. Martin Heinrich and Montana's Jon Tester having made such a call on Thursday night.
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