Many Democratic senators declined to talk to reporters after departing a lengthy private meeting in the Capitol on Tuesday where they wrestled with whether President Joe Biden should continue his reelection bid in the wake of a poor debate performance last month.
And for those that did, they refused to reveal if any of their colleagues had called on Biden to leave the race.
Up until now, no Democratic senators have publicly called for the president to step aside, despite many having serious concerns about his candidacy.
When asked if anyone called on Biden to step aside, he responded: “I’m not going to get into that.”
Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the third-ranking Democrat, told reporters the meeting focused on the dangers of another Trump administration and the successes of the Biden administration, including how he brought jobs to her state.
But when asked if any Democrats had called for Biden to leave the race she stopped: “No, I’m not going to. I’m not going to. This was a private family discussion.”
Pressed by CNN if her refusal to answer the questions was an acknowledgement that some of her colleagues had called for him to leave, she shot back but didn’t answer the question.
“No, no. Actually, I’m just uh…It’s a pri…I’m not going to say anymore,” she said.
Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, a strong supporter of Biden’s, was asked if a consensus and been reached in the meeting but only said that “it was a constructive conversation.”
Other senators — who have raised concerns publicly about Biden’s fitness for office after the debate and urged him to demonstrate that he is up to the job — refused to speak about the closed meeting.
