Mass. Dems differ on whether Biden should drop out of the presidential race

As congressional Democrats met Tuesday to discuss whether President Biden should continue his campaign for re-election, members of Massachusetts' congressional delegation have offered a range of views, or opted to remain quiet — at least for now.

While a number of Democrats have called for Biden to quit the campaign and make way for a younger candidate following his faltering performance in last week's debate, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren emerged this week as one of the president's most vocal defenders.

“President Biden is our nominee. He is an excellent president. He works hard on behalf of working families every day," Warren told The Boston Globe on Monday, as she entered the Capitol.

Warren, who has been a staunch supporter of Biden, praised him for a number of accomplishments, such as capping the price of insulin for Medicare recipients and erasing student debt for millions of Americans. And rather than Biden's age, Warren suggested the focus should be on former President Trump.

“Donald Trump was president for four years, has two accomplishments: an extremist Supreme Court that got rid of Roe vs. Wade and $2 trillion in tax cuts sucked up by millionaires and billionaires,” she told the Globe. “Those will be the issues in this race.”

Also voicing support for Biden this week was U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, the progressive Democrat from Boston, who also said the focus should be on Trump.

"We are losing the plot," she said, according to an Axios reporter. “Joe Biden is the nominee.”

The positions of Warren and Pressley stand in sharp contrast to that of U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, who told WBUR last week it's time for Biden to step aside.

"President Biden has done enormous service to our country, but now is the time for him to follow in one of our founding father George Washington's footsteps and step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump," Moulton said.

Moulton was one of the first members of Congress to publicly say Biden shouldn't run again, and the first —and so far, the only — member from the Massachusetts delegation. The Essex County Democrat, who ran briefly for president in 2020, said it was time for "a new generation of Democratic leaders."

President Biden has pushed back strenuously against members of his party who want him to quit. In a letter to congressional Democrats this week, he said he is "firmly committed to staying in this race," adding that speculation over his future was helping former President Donald Trump, "and it’s time for it to end."

“The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now," Biden wrote. "We have one job."

U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, another Massachusetts Democrat, offered a position between Warren and Moulton, telling WBUR, "The president is making a vigorous case for himself, and his confidence matters a lot."

Auchincloss said it's also important to respect the choice of millions of Democratic voters across the country who supported Biden during the presidential primaries.

But Auchincloss added that he's considering the concerns of his constituents, many of whom, following last week's debate, are now worried about Biden's ability to prosecute a successful campaign against Trump.

"A loss against Donald Trump is not an acceptable outcome," he said.

Auchincloss stopped short of saying Biden should exit the race. Instead, he said it will take time for Democrats like him to "synthesize" the results of the primary election, the concerns of constituents and the political realities in key battleground states, where a number of polls suggest Biden is running behind Trump.

While Auchincloss said he believes Biden can beat Trump, he also said the party has a "deep bench," and this moment calls for "sustained introspective conversation among Democrats about how we put the best ticket forward."

Democratic U.S. Sen. Ed Markey was also less than definitive about whether Biden should stay in the race.

“This is a discussion and a decision for President Biden and his family,” Markey said in a statement provided to WBUR. Markey said he would do everything he could “to ensure that we beat Donald Trump and keep the Senate in 2024.”

Several members of the state's delegation didn't respond to WBUR's request for an interview to discuss the future of Biden's candidacy, an indication of just how difficult the issue is for some Democrats. They face the difficult choice of backing Biden — which could risk losing the election — or abandoning the president and plunging the party into uncharted waters.

A spokesman for Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern said, "for the moment we are going to pass" on the request to comment. But he promised to "circle back" if anything changed.