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Sen. Bernie Sanders was asked whether he would replace Biden if the president withdrew from the race.
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Sanders believes Biden can beat Trump but acknowledges that Biden's age poses a challenge.
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Public concern about Biden's health grew after his poor performance in debates and confusing interviews.
Sen. Bernie Sanders dodged a question about whether he would replace President Joe Biden in the 2024 election if the president withdrew his candidacy.
Public concern about the president's health has grown recently following his disastrous performance in the June 27 debate against Donald Trump. An interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, in which Biden dismissed his performance as a “bad episode” and said he was determined to stay in the race, did little to assuage those fears.
On CBS News' “Face the Nation with Margaretha Brennan“On Sunday, Robert Costa asked Sanders if he would be willing to accept the Democratic Party nomination if Biden “ever decides to withdraw from the race.”
“Right now I'm running to re-elect the great state of Vermont as their senator,” Sanders said. “That's my focus right now.”
However, Sanders said Biden “can clearly beat Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in the history of this country.”
Biden, 81, is the oldest U.S. president to ever hold office. Sanders, 82, acknowledged that Biden's age poses challenges for the president going forward.
“Biden is old. He's not as articulate as he once was,” Sanders told CBS. “I wish he could jump up the steps of Air Force One. He can't.”
On Friday, Virginia Dem. Sen. Mark Warner reportedly organized a group of colleagues in the legislature to ask Biden to withdraw from the race. The meeting is scheduled for Monday.
When asked if he had received an invitation to the discussion, Sanders said he had not and did not plan to attend. Sanders also described Waner as “one of the more conservative members” of the Democratic caucus.
“Look, I get it. Biden had a terrible debate performance. I think he's done better since then, he's got to do better again.”
Despite the one-year age difference between Sanders and Biden, questions about a possible candidacy for the Vermont senator did not come entirely out of the blue.
Sanders, a Democratic socialist, ran unsuccessful presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020.
In 2022, the senator's 2020 campaign manager wrote in a memo that Sanders would consider running again if Biden did not seek re-election.
Read the original article on Business Insider
