Auchincloss says 'constituents are concerned' after Biden's debate performance

In light of last week's presidential debate, Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss said that the Democrats have to work together.

"Governing is a team sport and campaigning is a team sport," he said on WBUR's Radio Boston on Wednesday.

The future of President Biden's reelection bid depends on "private, tough conversations between the president and elected officials," ahead of the convention, he said. 

Speaking with WBUR's Radio Boston, Auchincloss said "constituents are concerned" after seeing Biden's haggard live-television performance last Thursday, noting that 50 million people watched the debate.

"They are concerned about his ability to beat Donald Trump," he said. "And let's be blunt here. If the election were held today, Donald Trump would probably beat Joe Biden. And so Joe Biden needs to present a plan, and more importantly, he needs to implement a plan to change that trajectory."

Auchincloss emphasized that it's Biden's choice whether or not to withdraw from the presidential race, and that Democrats should focus on doing whatever it takes to defeat former President Trump in November.

"We have to platform democratic stars like [U.S. Secretary of Transportation] Pete Buttigieg to talk about infrastructure and the economy, [former Rhode Island Governor and current U.S. Secretary of Commerce] Gina Raimondo to talk about manufacturing and beating China and the economic race, [Vice President] Kamala Harris to tear Donald Trump apart limb by limb for his lies and his attacks on reproductive health," Auchincloss said.

"We've got strong communicators," he continued. "We're going to have to use them as a party because, ultimately, Donald Trump's biggest opponent is Donald Trump himself. Americans don't like him. Americans don't want him to be president again, and we have to turn his words and his actions against him."

When pressed on whether the Democrats have a "Plan B" in place should Biden withdraw, Auchincloss said Democrats have a deep bench of young leaders.

"Is there a plan B? I mean, the Democratic Party has a ton of highly engaging and competent next generation leaders and Joe Biden himself described himself as a bridge to the next generation," Auchincloss said. "We have Democrats who can engage with voters on issues like cost of living, law and order, global U. S. leadership. And frankly, regardless of whether Joe Biden is a nominee, we're going to need them to communicate."

Last week, Auchincloss dismissed post-debate calls for Biden to stand down, saying “the work for Democrats right now is not hand-wringing, it's campaigning.”

"Voters don't have to rely on 90 minutes," he said. "They have four years because both men have been president."

Biden is scheduled to meet privately with several Democratic governors, including Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, on Wednesday.