President Biden’s defiant call on Democrats in Congress on Monday to stop questioning his viability and fall in line behind his candidacy did little to quell the groundswell of skepticism within his own party that has engulfed his campaign.
As lawmakers returned to Washington after a weeklong recess, there were few signs that any of Mr. Biden’s efforts to reassure his allies — either through a bluntly worded letter or a phone interview on MSNBC — had done much to mollify growing Democratic anxieties.
Instead, ahead of a day of crucial meetings in which Democrats in the House and the Senate plan to meet separately to discuss a way forward, lawmakers were still openly agonizing over their presumptive nominee, with party divisions about the best course bursting into the open.
And more prominent Democrats came forward to air their concerns about Mr. Biden’s path to victory in November.
“With so much at stake in the upcoming election, now is the time for conversations about the strongest path forward,” Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia and the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said in a statement.
Persons:
Biden’s, —, MSNBC —, “, Mark Warner, ”
Organizations:
MSNBC, Democrat, Intelligence
Locations:
Washington, Virginia