Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden questions Biden winnability, says he’s “OK” with Trump victory

07/03/2024 / By Laura Harris

A Democratic lawmaker has openly questioned President Joe Biden’s ability to win re-election while stating he is “OK” with a potential Donald Trump victory in November.

In an op-ed article for the Bangor Daily News, Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden expressed his doubts about Biden after his “poor performance” during the first CNN presidential debate with Trump on June 27.

“After the first presidential debate, lots of Democrats are panicking about whether President Joe Biden should step down as the party’s nominee,” Golden wrote. “Biden’s poor performance in the debate was not a surprise. 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, a co-chair of the moderate House Blue Dog Coalition, dismissed concerns over the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Instead, he stressed the importance of economic issues over democratic stability. (Related: Biden’s debate performance raises alarm among Democrats. Here’s why.)

“Democrats’ post-debate hand-wringing is based on the idea that a Trump victory is not just a political loss but a unique threat to our democracy. I reject the premise… This election is about the economy, not democracy,” Golden insisted. “And when it comes to our economy, our Congress matters far more than who occupies the White House.”

The representative of Maine’s rural 2nd Congressional District, which Trump carried in the 2016 and 2020 elections, consistently criticized the Biden administration for abandoning successful Trump-era border policies and imposing restrictive environmental regulations on Maine’s lobster industry. He then opposed Maine’s secretary of state to bar Trump from the 2024 ballot.

“Some of Congress’ best work in recent years has happened in spite of the president, not because of him,” he said. “A handful of responsible Democrats, including myself and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, rejected Biden’s bloated “Build Back Better” bill and instead passed a law that supercharged American energy production, saved Medicare billions of dollars and reduced the deficit. Years earlier, Congress stood up to the GOP establishment who tried to hijack Trump’s agenda to achieve their long-held goal of repealing the Affordable Care Act.”

Golden ended his op-ed article with a call for confidence in democracy, independent of presidential influence: “I urge everyone – voters, elected officials, the media, and all citizens – to ignore the chattering class’ scare tactics and political pipedreams. We don’t need party insiders in smoke-filled back rooms to save us. We can defend our democracy without them.”

Texas Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett calls on Biden to withdraw

Aside from Golden, Texas Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett made headlines on Jul. 2 by drawing parallels between Biden and former President Lyndon B. Johnson, who withdrew from the 1968 election amid growing unpopularity due to the Vietnam War.

“I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson,” Doggett said. “Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw. President Biden should do the same. While much of his work has been transformational, he pledged to be transitional.”

“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. My decision to make these strong reservations public is not done lightly nor does it in 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,” he continued.

Doggett, a respected member of the Democratic House caucus since 1995, lamented Biden’s inability to capitalize on the debate to boost his campaign. Instead, he noted that the president continues to lag behind Democratic senators in key states and trails Trump in most polls.

“The President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies,” Doggett said.

Meanwhile, National Republican Congressional Committee Communications Director Jack Pandol slammed the dissent within Democratic ranks and said Doggett’s announcement came 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. “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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