Chuck Schumer has the same three-word answer anytime he’s asked about the election prospects of President Joe Biden: “I’m with Joe.”
The Senate majority leader said the same phrase three times on Tuesday during his weekly press conference, when reporters asked about the incumbent’s viability in defeating former President Donald Trump.
“As I’ve said before, I’m with Joe,” Schumer said, declining to offer further insight into what Democrats discussed at their weekly lunch meeting.
Schumer declined to state whether he agreed with Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), another member of Democratic leadership, that Biden “must do more” to reassure Democrats and needs to be “a much more forceful and energetic candidate on the campaign trail in the very near future.”
The New York Democrat has been sparing in his public comments about Biden since the president’s shaky debate performance against Trump. He’s offered some version of the line he used Tuesday during an event in upstate New York and then upon returning to Washington on Monday.
Biden waited nearly a week after his debate performance to call Schumer and other senior Democrats in Congress.
No Senate Democrats have publicly called for Biden to abandon his reelection bid, though plenty have expressed concerns publicly — and privately — about his ability to vigorously make the case against Trump as polls show the incumbent steadily trailing. Lawmakers were largely mum on their conference discussion as they exited lunches Tuesday afternoon.
