Biden’s support marked a shift in the Democrat narrative which was in favor of an alternative candidate as soon as the debate ended, but hours later it threw its weight behind Biden — making it clear that Biden will not opt out of the contest.
Biden too — in his rally in North Carolina– acknowledged his age-related frailties and said he was aware that he was not a young man and could not debate as he used to, but he knew his job, he knew the right and the wrong, the 81-year-old made an emotional appeal to the supporters who were writing him off after the debate.
Speaker Mike Johnson, meanwhile, said members of Biden’s Cabinet should consider using the 25th Amendment to remove him from the office. “There’s a lot of people asking about the 25th Amendment, invoking the 25th Amendment right now because this is an alarming situation,” Johnson said. “Our adversaries see the weakness in this White House as we all do. I take no pleasure in saying that. I think this is a very dangerous situation.”
“But it’s not just political. It’s not just the Democratic Party. It’s the entire country. We have a serious problem here, because we have a president who, by all appearances, is not up to the task,” Johnson said. “And these are very dangerous times. This is a very serious moment in American history. And it needs to be regarded and handled as such. And we hope that they will do their duty, as we all seek to do our duty to do best for the American people.”
The 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which governs presidential succession, says that the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet may vote to declare a president “unable to discharge the powers and the duties of his office” and give the vice president the duties of acting president.
