Democrats on Capitol Hill express concerns about Biden in private but stay quiet in public

WASHINGTON (AP) — After meeting for around two hours Tuesday to discuss whether President Joe Biden should remain at the top of their presidential ticket, Senate Democrats seemed to agree on one thing — it's best not to talk about it publicly.

Behind closed doors, several Democrats expressed deep concerns about whether Biden can win. But no Democratic senators publicly called for him to drop his reelection bid, underscoring the deep bind facing the party at a crucial juncture in the campaign. Democratic lawmakers are reeling from Biden’s calamitous performance at the debate two weeks ago, yet the president has made clear, repeatedly and forcefully, that he has no plans to step aside.

Emerging from their meeting Tuesday, senators ducked into elevators, evaded questions, joked, and stated the obvious — that they all want to defeat former Republican Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee. But very few of them would comment on Biden’s future, whether they think he should remain the Democratic candidate, or what the Senate could potentially do about it. Some of them appeared resigned.

“People are all focused on winning right now,” said Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, who is in charge of Senate Democrats' campaign arm.