Biden stay in or get out? Iowa Democratic candidates respond
One congressional candidate has refused to answer
Des Moines, Iowa (Gray TV Iowa State Capitol Bureau) - As Republicans hold their national convention in Milwaukee, Democrats deal with a major question before their convention last month: Should Joe Biden remain their party’s presidential nominee?
Biden has tried to reassure Democrats that he is up to the job following his performance during the first presidential debate last month when he seemed confused at times. He has sat down for interviews with NBC’s Lester Holt and ABC’s George Stephanopolous, and fielded questions during a news conference, neither of which he frequently does.
He also held addresses to the nation on Saturday and Sunday, following the assassination attempt of his Republican challenger, Donald Trump.
Biden has given no public indication that he will end his re-election campaign amid concerns by the majority of Americans in a public opinion poll that he is not mentally fit for another term in office.
But two of the Iowa Democratic candidates running for Congress have publicly stated that he should exit the race. A third wants more medical information made publicly available for presidential candidates. And the fourth is refusing to publicly answer questions about the president’s future.
As of Tuesday, here is what some Iowa Democrats have said about the president’s future.
Christina Bohannan, an Iowa City Democrat and candidate for the 1st Congressional District, was the first of the four to call for Biden to end his re-election campaign.
Sarah Corkery, a Cedar Falls Democrat and 2nd District Congressional candidate, followed Bohannan and called for a new party presidential nominee.
Lanon Baccam, a Des Moines Democrat and 3rd District candidate for Congress, did not respond to a request for his position on Biden’s future.
Ryan Melton, a Nevada Democrat and 4th District candidate for Congress, has not called for Biden to exit the race but thinks that voters deserve more medical information about presidential candidates. He told Gray TV Iowa in a statement:
“I think it’s fair to question Biden’s fitness to serve a second term, just as I think it’s fair to question Trump’s. I think we deserve more transparency regarding medical records, cognitive tests, etc. from both. However, this subject has led to a lot of folks coming up with other candidates who could potentially replace Biden. The only option if we get that far, and I doubt we will, is VP Harris. The VP is literally in place to take over if the president is incapacitated. It’s Biden or Harris at this point.
I do think it’s very telling that the Republican Party thinks Biden’s cognitive health is fair game while not questioning Trump’s. His lies, threats, unrestrained racism, and inability to answer simple questions all suggest he’s lost his grasp of reality. Why is that accepted as normal? It’s the exact opposite. So yes, let’s see the medical records, the cognitive tests. I think we deserve that transparency. But let’s see it from both candidates. And look, I’m not a blind follower of Biden or Harris, but she’s the VP. It’s that simple. Here’s the other thing. It was clear Biden was rather ill on debate night. Did that skew his performance? Possibly. I don’t know why that’s been lost in the conversation. Finally, I don’t understand why there isn’t full transparency regarding cognitive tests, medical records, etc. for any and all presidential candidates regardless of their age. It seems we deserve that from anyone who wants to be the leader of the free world.”
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart responded to Gray TV Iowa’s request for comment with this statement:
“President Biden understands the concerns and is taking the steps to address them. He’s reminding everyone about his three and a half years of accomplishments — capping the price of insulin at $35, creating 15 million new jobs, and rebuilding our nations infrastructure. We know how real the threat is from Donald Trump and those behind Project 2025 — who want to ban abortion, take away freedoms, cut social security and roll back Medicare. We have to win this year and Joe Biden has already defeated Donald Trump once.”
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