Senior Biden advisers to meet with Senate Democrats on Thursday
Three of President Biden’s top political advisers will meet with Senate Democrats on Thursday to listen to their concerns about Biden’s performance as a candidate and whether he has a chance of beating former President Trump in November.
Senate Democrats have planned a special caucus lunch meeting at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Thursday to hear from senior Biden advisers Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti and Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon, according to a Senate Democratic leadership source.
The meeting comes after Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) told colleagues Tuesday they think Biden will lose to Trump in the general election and could perform so badly that it wipes out down-ballot Democrats.
Tester and Brown are two of the most vulnerable Senate Democratic incumbents this year.
Tester told reporters Wednesday that Biden hasn’t yet fixed what’s wrong with his campaign, and he suggested the glitches should have been addressed by now.
He said if Biden’s political problems had been solved, “we wouldn’t even be talking.”
“It ought to be fixed by this point,” he said.
But when asked if Biden should drop his reelection campaign, Tester retorted: “Come on, now.”
Brown told reporters Wednesday that he’s heard “concerns” about Biden from Ohio voters.
“I hear legitimate concerns from people in Ohio about the president. I listen to those, but my job is to continue to work for my state to fight on prescription drug prices and jobs,” he said.
Bennet told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Tuesday evening that Trump is “on track” to win the election and warned it could turn into a landslide that costs Democrats control of the Senate and House.
“Donald Trump is on track, I think, to win this election, and maybe win it by a landslide, and take with him the Senate and House,” Bennet warned.
The Colorado senator said “the White House, in the time since that disastrous debate, I think, has done nothing to really demonstrate that they have a plan to win this election.”
Senate Democrats such as Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a national co-chair of Biden’s campaign, and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have called on Biden to have more unscripted moments with the media and voters to show he’s capable of running the country another four years.