AUGUSTA, Maine — Top Maine Democrats either stood by President Joe Biden or were quiet after a rough Thursday debate for President Joe Biden that has some in the party questioning whether he should be their nominee in November.
Biden’s halting performance, particularly early in the CNN debate with former President Donald Trump as he struggled to finish thoughts, reinforced a top polling concern for voters that the president is not up for another term at age 81. Despite Trump’s recent criminal conviction in New York and more legal jeopardy, the Republican is favored to beat Biden in November.
The official line from elected Democrats is that Biden will be the party’s choice and that his vision for the country is far preferable to Trump’s in a high-stakes race. That trickled down to Maine on Friday, even as there were deep worries about the president behind the scenes.
Biden got off to “a slow start” on Thursday night, Maine House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, admitted in a statement. But she was confident that he would win in part because Trump “failed Americans” in his first term and would be “even worse” in a second one.
“We can’t go back,” she said.
Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, defended Biden by citing many of his initiatives, including a “Buy America” plan and lowering prescription drug prices, saying “actions speak louder than words.”
Spokespeople for Maine’s other top elected Democrats, Gov. Janet Mills and U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree of the 1st District and Jared Golden of the 2nd District, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. All of them, alongside U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, accompanied Biden on an economic visit to Auburn last July.
Biden and Golden, who is in a top-tier reelection race in a swing district won twice by Trump, praised each other during that visit. But Golden voted against Biden more than any other House Democrat in 2023. He also said in February that both the president and the 78-year-old Trump would have passed the torch of leadership to younger candidates in an “ideal world.”
Democrats have defended Biden by pointing to many false claims from Trump on Thursday, including his argument that the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, was the fault of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, for not having enough security around the building. However, Biden also erred in several areas, saying at one point that Trump wants to “get rid” of Social Security.
But Biden’s performance overshadowed the substance of the debate, forming the major topic of discussion for CNN panelists after the network’s debate ended Thursday night. Political analyst Van Jones, a special adviser to former President Barack Obama, called Biden’s debate performance “painful” and suggested he should step aside.
“I love Joe Biden. I worked for Joe Biden. He didn’t do well at all,” Jones said during the broadcast. “He’s doing the best that he can, but he had a test to meet tonight to restore confidence of the country and of the base and he failed to do that.”
Trump has a narrow lead in national polls against Biden, but both men are deeply unpopular with favorability ratings in the low 40s. Roughly a quarter of Americans had unfavorable views of both in a February poll from the Pew Research Center. Two-thirds of Americans think Biden is too old to be president, according to a Gallup poll. Only 37 percent said the same of Trump.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, answered with a flat “no” when asked Friday if Biden should step aside. But he added that he’s eager to see how Biden would address his performance at a Friday rally in North Carolina.
“I’m looking forward to hearing from President Biden,” he said. “And 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.”
Information from the Associated Press, CQ-Roll Call writer Niels Lesniewski, Taylor Croft and Shannon McCaffrey of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was used in this report.
