Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse says he was “pretty horrified” by President Joe Biden’s performance in the debate with Donald Trump, offering a sharper critique than other leading Democrats have been willing to make — at least in public.
Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat who served two years in the Senate with Biden, told a local TV station Monday that he could barely recognize him as he struggled to respond to Trump’s torrent of attacks on the debate stage.
“I think like a lot of people I was pretty horrified by the debate,” he told Providence’s 12 News. “The blips of President Biden and the barrage of lying from President Trump were not what one would hope for in a presidential debate.”
The senator also said the campaign should provide answers about Biden’s health.
“I think people want to make sure that this is a campaign that’s ready to go and win, that the president and his team are being candid with us about his condition — that this was a real anomaly and not just the way he is these days,” he said.
His remarks were notable because many other leading Democrats have rushed to defend the president or dismiss concerns about his health following Thursday’s debate even as they privately express panic about his ability to defeat Trump given his condition.
Another notable exception was Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, who said over the weekend that “there are very honest and serious and rigorous conversations” among Democrats after Biden’s performance.”
Democrats have also been urging Biden not to debate former President Donald Trump for a second time in September or blaming Biden and his family for hiding the reality of his condition.
Whitehouse said there was a positive element to the post-debate discussion.
“I’ve been critical of the campaign all along, so the upside is that this could be the jolt that they need to make a more compelling case against Donald Trump and for President Biden and the goals Democrats want to achieve,” he said.
Read the full article here
