Dem Sen ‘Horrified’ By Debate, Says Biden Team Needs to Be ‘Candid With Us About His Condition’

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) told local outlet WPRI he was “pretty horrified” by last week’s debate between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

“I think like a lot of people I was pretty horrified by the debate,” Whitehouse said on Monday. “The blips of President Biden and the barrage of lying from President Trump were not what one would hope for in a presidential debate.”

The president’s team has touted a spike in donations since the debate, but it has not stopped calls from critics to make a last minute switch on the Democratic Party ticket before November’s election. Whitehouse described Biden’s appearance as a “surprise.”

The senator called for Biden’s team to be “candid with us about his condition.”

“I think people want to make sure that this is a campaign that’s ready to go and win, that the president and his team are being candid with us about his condition — that this was a real anomaly and not just the way he is these days,” he said.

The lawmaker called for Biden’s campaign to make a more “compelling case” against Trump in light of the debate performance.

“I’ve been critical of the campaign all along, so the upside is that this could be the jolt that they need to make a more compelling case against Donald Trump and for President Biden and the goals Democrats want to achieve,” he said.

Many Democratic lawmakers have come to Biden’s defense since the debate, but Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) expressed similar concerns as Whitehouse this week, saying there’s been “serious” talk in the party since the debate.

“Obviously, there was a big problem with Joe Biden’s debate performance, and there is also just a tremendous reservoir of love for Joe Biden in our party,” he said. “So this makes it a difficult situation for everybody, but there are very honest and serious and rigorous conversations happening at every level of our party, because it is a political party and we have differences in point of view.”

Watch above via WPRI 12 News.

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