Dems say calls to replace Biden after primaries aren't 'threat to democracy,' a charge lobbed at Trump
Democrats in the Senate were reluctant to claim calls from elites and celebrities to replace President Biden on the Democratic ticket were a "threat to democracy."
Democrats in the Senate said calls from elites and celebrities to replace President Biden on the Democrat ticket didn't indicate a "threat to democracy," despite the fact that primary voters across the country have already cast their votes in support of Biden.
Lawmakers in the Democratic Party have frequently discussed a variety of threats to America's system of governance, with a particular focus on former President Trump and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Fox News Digital asked several lawmakers whether calls to replace Biden after his election in the primaries were a threat to democracy in the same fashion that some described efforts to halt the certification of the 2020 election by Trump supporters on Jan. 6.
"I don't think there is any comparison whatsoever. Zero. No comparison," said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats.
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Several House Democrats have called on Biden, the leader of their party, to withdraw from the race. Reps. Angie Craig, D-Minn., Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., Seth Moulton, D-Mass., Mike Quigley, D-Ill., Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., and Adam Smith, D-Wash., have made such calls. In addition, multiple celebrities and Democrat megadonors have pressured the president to drop out of the race as confidence in his ability to beat Trump continues to fall.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., didn't remark on those calls, noting, "I just speak for myself, so I can give you my views. I'm not going to characterize or comment on other people's views."
Notably, he has pointed to Trump, claiming the former president "presents an existential threat to democracy."
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When posed the same question, Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., remarked: "In Georgia, former President Trump was caught on tape pressuring and threatening the statewide senior-most election administration official to, quote, find the exact number of votes that he needed to win and by which he had lost."
"That misconduct is utterly appalling. It should be unacceptable to every elected official in the country, to every member of the Republican Party. It should be disqualifying for former President Trump, for every Republican elected official in the country," he added.
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Per Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., "I can appreciate, I think, concerns my colleagues have had, but we got our answer from the president on Monday."
"We have 117 days left between now and the November election. It's time [to get] back to work," he said, reiterating his support for Biden to remain on the Democrat ticket but not addressing whether a threat to democracy is presented by calls for him to step down.
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Democrat strategist Kaivan Shroff, however, said the calls could rise to the level of undermining democracy.
"Donald Trump is the singular greatest threat to democracy and yes, in trying to undermine our Democratic primary winner Joe Biden this late in the game — and invalidate the primary votes of millions in our party across the country — I do feel that democracy is at risk if the game playing does not stop."
"We should be laser focused on building the same winning coalition that elected the Biden-Harris ticket in the first place," he added.