On Wednesday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) refused to say whether he believes President Joe Biden is fit to serve as President at the moment and stated that Biden is “wrestling with” that issue. Welch also said that he isn’t taking a position on that due to a sensitivity and his respect for the President.
Co-host Brianna Keilar asked, “I do want to ask you, in your opinion, is President Biden fit to serve right now as President?”
Welch responded, “Well, that’s the question. He’s wrestling with that and he’s reading the polls and he had a terrible debate and the campaign has candidly acknowledged it. And I’m confident, by the way, that, at the end of the day, that the President is going to make his decision on the basis of what’s best for the country. That is how he has approached his entire public life. He’ll put the country first. He knows that the existential challenge is keeping Donald Trump out of the presidency. So, I have confidence that he’s going to make a decision and make it on the basis of serving the country.”
Keilar then asked, “Is there a sensitivity to not taking a position on that question?”
Welch answered, “Well, yes is the answer. But there’s also an enormous amount of affection and respect in the Democratic Party for who Joe Biden is and what he’s done. And, in fact, Vermont, we gave Biden the largest majority in the entire country in that last election. So, we all saw what we saw, and it’s a serious issue. The campaign is clearly taking it seriously. All reports indicate that the President himself is taking it seriously and he’s reading the polls. So, my view is that I will let the President make his own decision, out of immense respect for everything he’s done for us, keeping Trump out of office and the extraordinary job he’s done.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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