Putin Ally Weighs In on 'Pitiful' US Election Race

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has described the U.S. presidential race as a "pitiful sight."

"Seriously speaking, of course, it's a pitiful sight," Lavrov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, told a journalist, Russia's state news agency Tass reported.

"And if the system of so-called American democracy produces such results or such a course of the election campaign, everyone could draw their own conclusions about how it's all orchestrated, how it's arranged," he added.

The Trump and Biden campaigns have been contacted for comment via email.

Lavrov's comments come as President Joe Biden is fighting to save his imperiled reelection campaign following a poor debate performance against Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, late last month.

Biden's rocky performance sparked fresh concerns about the 81-year-old's age and capacity to serve another four-year term as president, and a number of Democrats are calling for him to drop out of the race.

Biden called his debate performance a "bad episode" during an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Friday and insisted that he would remain in the race.

"I'm not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work. I'm staying in the race, and I will beat Donald Trump," he said.

During the interview, Biden also rejected the idea of taking an independent medical evaluation to reassure voters he is up for serving another term in office.

"I have a cognitive test every single day," Biden told Stephanopoulos. "Every day, I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but I'm running the world."

On Sunday, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy warned that the coming days are "critical" for Biden's campaign.

"There's no doubt that the president's performance at the debate has raised questions for voters," the Democrat said on CNN's State of the Union.

"I don't know that the interview on Friday night did enough to answer those questions, so I think this week is going to be absolutely critical. I think the president needs to do more."

Meanwhile, five House Democrats have called for Biden to step down as the party's nominee.

"Given what I saw and heard from the president during last week's debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the president himself following that debate, I do not believe that the president can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump," Representative Angie Craig, of Minnesota, said in a statement posted on social media on Saturday.

"If we truly believe that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans must be stopped, there is only a small window left to make sure we have a candidate best equipped to make the case and win."