WASHINGTON — Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is trying to organize a group of Democratic senators to call on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race, The Washington Post reported Friday.
Warner, chairman of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee, has reportedly expressed concern that Biden will not be able to effectively challenge former President Donald Trump following Biden's dismal performance in last week's debate.
A Warner Bros. spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from USA Today on Friday afternoon. NBC, Axios and other media outlets also confirmed the initiative.
According to the Washington Post, senators are considering meeting with Biden at the White House to discuss their concerns face-to-face, while some are awaiting the results of Biden's interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, which is set to air Friday night.
Asked if Warner wanted to resign, Biden told reporters Friday that “he's the only one.”
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Many Democrats have privately expressed concern about the presidential nominee after the debate, in which Biden repeatedly stumbled over his answers to questions. Still, only a handful have publicly called for Biden to resign and only a handful of senators have spoken out about the issue. The Senate is in recess for two weeks and lawmakers are out of Washington.
more:'I am the nominee': Biden slams Democrats for calling for him to withdraw from election
The president has said he has no plans to step down, and other lawmakers are still openly supporting him.
“We said we support the president,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said after the president met with several Democratic governors at the White House this week. “The president has always supported us, and we're going to support the president.”
The debate's aftermath marked a surprising twist in an already historic presidential campaign that pitted the oldest president in American history against the first former president to be convicted of a felony.
Senate Democrats, in particular, have high stakes in the race to top the nominations: They're on the defensive this year, protecting several vulnerable incumbents who already have bigger jobs than the president — and any further weaknesses they find could make that even more difficult.
But many lawmakers plan to wait until there are solid polls showing voters' feelings toward the president after the debate.
A USA Today/Suffolk University poll released earlier this week gave voters a slight lead over Trump, 41% to 38%, a change from a May poll that showed the numbers tied, 37% to 37%.
