Virginia Democrat reportedly called on Biden to ‘step aside now’
The Democratic member of Congress who compared President Joe Biden to Jesus just days after his disastrous debate performance may be looking for his 30 pieces of silver.
Rep. Don Beyer (D., Va.), Punchbowl reported on Sunday, called Biden a “very very fragile” man who “also really has trouble putting two sentences together” during a Democratic leadership call. Beyer went on to say that his “perfect world is Joe—in deciding after talking to leader [Hakeem] Jeffries, Majority Leader [Chuck] Schumer, others—step aside now, let Kamala run as the incumbent, which I think makes her even stronger.”
Those words could not be further from Beyer’s opening remarks at a McLean, Virginia, fundraiser on July 2. There, Beyer spoke about Jesus’ crucifixion and how “he died to demonstrate the universality of human suffering—that suffering was not the end.” Few other individuals, Beyer said, “had to endure more [suffering] than [Biden].”
“Losing his wife, losing his daughter, and losing his son,” Beyer continued. “The vicissitudes of American politics.”
But now, four days later, Beyer seemingly wants Biden to resign and hand over the White House to Vice President Kamala Harris. A spokesman for Beyer disputed those remarks on X and said the congressman “supports President Biden and said so on this call and any reporting to the contrary is a misunderstanding of what he said and what he believes.”
That same spokesman previously told the Washington Free Beacon that the idea Beyer was comparing Biden to Jesus is “preposterous.”
“[Beyer] was clearly musing on the centrality of suffering to the human experience, as a basic matter of language and reading comprehension at no point in this quotation did he compare the president to Jesus Christ,” said Beyer spokesman Aaron Fritschner.
Beyer later put out a statement on Sunday pledging his support for Biden, although that statement did not dispute Punchbowl’s reporting.
At least 10 House Democrats have called for Biden to step down in both public and private remarks. Biden’s June debate performance has led to panic throughout the party over not only whether he can defeat former president Donald Trump in November but whether he has the cognitive ability to remain commander in chief.
Biden has since blamed jet lag for his poor debate performance and said he “nearly fell asleep on the stage.” Although the chorus of voices calling for him to step aside in the face of historically low approval ratings has only gotten louder, Biden has pledged to stay in the race.
“If the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race,” Biden said in an interview with ABC last Friday. “The Lord Almighty’s not coming down.”
