Ritchie Torres slams Democrats for 'weakening' Biden's 2024 candidacy, Internet says POTUS 'needs to go'

WASHINGTON, DC: President Joe Biden supporter House Democrat Representative Ritchie Torres, D-NY, is criticizing members of his own party for publicly opposing Biden's 2024 candidacy, claiming that doing so will worsen the president's situation in light of the fallout from the 81-year-old's shaky debate performance last month.

Monday, July 8, marks the first time that Congress has convened since the immediate aftermath of Biden's debate performance, and it is anticipated that Democratic lawmakers will be under intense scrutiny.

What did Rep Ritchie Torres say about Joe Biden's reelection?

"Regardless of where one stands on the question of President Biden's political future, the intra-party mixed messaging strikes me as deeply self-destructive," Rep Ritchie Torres said on Monday, per Fox News.

"Those publicly calling on President Biden to withdraw should ask themselves a simple question: 'what if the President becomes the Democratic nominee?' The drip, drip, drip of public statements of no confidence only serve to weaken a president who has been weakened not only by the debate but also by the debate about the debate," he added.

"Weakening a weakened nominee seems like a losing strategy for a presidential election. The piling-on is not so much solving a problem as much as it is creating and compounding one. The process by which we decide how to move forward matters as much as the decision itself," the Democrat representative continued in favor of Biden.

The Joe Biden-Donald Trump debate has led to intra-party fractures within Democrats

Members of the House Democratic caucus are divided on whether Joe Biden should withdraw from the presidential race, which has caused further intra-party divisions as a result of the CNN-hosted debate.

Five House Democrats have openly called on Biden to resign this past week in anticipation of his November rematch with former President Donald Trump. 

According to a senior House Democratic aide, more people are expected to join the list this week, the outlet reported on Friday, July 5.

Rep Frederica Wilson also lashed out at her colleagues for criticizing Joe Biden's candidacy for 2024 election

On Sunday, Joe Biden's ally Representative Frederica Wilson, D-Fla, attacked her colleagues for slamming the president on the basis of his debate performance.

"Any ‘leader’ calling for President Biden to drop out needs to get their priorities straight and stop undermining this incredible actual leader who has delivered real results for our country," she said in a statement.

"What Democrats need to be doing is stop listening to these political pundits and focus on what’s at stake this election: our democracy. End of story," she added.

Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance fuelled concerns among Democrats

The Biden campaign has been navigating this political minefield since the CNN Presidential Debate last month.

The 81-year-old president's slurred speech and occasionally rambling responses raised doubts about his suitability to lead for a second term and intensified worries that he is not a strong enough opponent of Donald Trump in November.

This week will mark the longest that House Democrats have had to face off against one another and the Capitol Hill media since the debate.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is dedicated to making sure Democrats win

Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader in the house, hasn't said much about Joe Biden's performance in the debate, other than informing reporters on Friday that he was committed to ensuring that Democrats win in November 2024.

"Until he articulates a way forward in terms of his vision for America at this moment, I'm going to reserve comment about anything relative to where we are at this moment, other than to say I stand behind the ticket," Jeffries told reporters on Friday.

House Democrats held a caucus-wide call this past weekend regarding Joe Biden's nomination

The direction of the election was discussed during a Sunday afternoon call for caucuses by House Democrats.

Representatives Jerry Nadler of New York, Mark Takano of California, Adam Smith of Washington, and Joe Morelle of New York, four prominent Democrats, reportedly advised Biden to resign.

There was more confusion on the left after the call, however, Rep Don Beyer, D-Va, responded to reports that he too criticized Biden with a statement declaring, "I support President Biden. I support the Biden-Harris ticket, and look forward to helping defeat Donald Trump in November."

"I was proud to host an event this week in Northern Virginia with the President, and will continue doing all I can to support the Biden-Harris campaign in Virginia and across the country," Beyer added.

Internet wants Joe Biden to step down from presidential election despite Rep Ritchie Torres' backing

Netizens didn't side with Ritchie Torres and instead wanted the current US president to step down as the Democratic nominee for the upcoming presidential race.

One X user tweeted, "Biden has to consider how much his withdraw from the race would impact negatively on his corrupt family ability to generating income." 

Another wrote, "He could have gone out as a career politician but instead he’s going to be remembered for his egotistical genocide loving refusal to step aside. Someone tell the lord almighty to give him a sign."

"He needs to go," remarked one while one user added, "The dems in power want Trump to win so they can blame him for the catastrophic inflation that is just around corner. The democrat economy foundation is built of smoke and mirrors."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.