Biden under siege as third elected Democrat turns on him after debate

A third sitting Democrat has turned on President Joe Biden , saying they believe the 'painful debate' against Trump has cost the Democrats. Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, 36, told KATU News that she believes the performance last week from President Biden the election.

She told the outlet that she believes 'the damage has been done' and that she tuned in to the debate for just 'five very painful minutes'. Despite her damning comments, she stopped short of calling on him to drop out, and said that the Democrats have to accept the results of the primary elections. Gluesenkamp Perez (pictured) said: 'A core tenet of democracy is that you accept the results of an election and the reality is that primary voting has already happened to a degree that Biden is the nominee.'

She added: 'About 50 million Americans tuned in and watched that debate. I was one of them for about five very painful minutes. We all saw what we saw, you can’t undo that, and the truth I think, is that Biden is going to lose to Trump. I know that’s difficult, but I think the damage has been done by that debate.'

It comes after Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden (pictured), 41, said that he expects Trump to win after Biden's terrible debate performance. 'After the first presidential debate, lots of Democrats are panicking about whether President Joe Biden should step down as the party’s nominee ,' he wrote for a Maine newspaper.

'Biden’s poor performance in the debate was not a surprise,' he continued. 'It also didn’t rattle me as it has others, because the outcome of this election has been clear to me for months: While I don’t plan to vote for him, Donald Trump is going to win. And I’m OK with that.' Golden (pictured right) became the second current member of Congress to buck Biden this week.

Texas Democrat Rep. Lloyd Doggett (pictured), 77, first came forward on Tuesday, likening the hard decision he says Biden must make for the sake of the nation to the one made decades ago by another sitting Democratic president. 'I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson,' the Texan said in a statement. 'Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw. President Biden should do the same,' he continued. 'While much of his work has been transformational, he pledged to be transitional.' Lyndon B. Johnson chose to withdraw from the race in 1968 because rising casualties in the Vietnam war had made him extremely unpopular.

Biden is facing plummeting support after his disastrous debate performance on Thursday. 'He has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of leaders from whom a nominee can be chosen to unite our country through an open, democratic process,' Doggett's statement continued. 'My decision to make these strong reservations public is not done lightly nor does it in a any way diminish my respect for all that President Biden has achieved Recognizing that, unlike Trump, President Biden's first commitment has always been to our country, not himself, I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. I respectfully call on him to do so.'

While other former Democrats and liberal pundits have speculated on Biden's ability to hold the presidency through 2028, should he win, there have been no other sitting Democrats who have gone as far in their calls as Doggett. Doggett, 77, is a respected member of the Democrat House caucus, having served in the chamber since 1995. He also lauded Biden's work as president, but ultimately conceded Joe's debate performance was not one of a competitive candidate.

'President Biden has continued to run substantially behind Democratic senators in key states and in most polls has trailed Donald Trump,' he said. 'I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not. Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump's many lies.' 

National Republican Congressional Committee Communications Director Jack Pandol criticized Doggett's announcement for coming too late. 'The cowards in the Democratic Caucus have spent every day after the debate in witness protection, too afraid to say what they're all thinking,' Pandol said in a statement. 'Americans remember House Democrats were complicit in covering up and gaslighting the public about the president's condition, and voters are primed to punish them in November.'

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