He just takes their breath away.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) conceded that many Democratic colleagues often find themselves holding their breath when President Biden opens his mouth, fretting that he’ll make another blunder.
“I would say at this point that the burden is really on the president to show that he is” the Democrats’ best option, Polis said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday.
“There’s a lot of very reasonable skepticism out there, and a lot of us are holding our breath when he gives a speech. Will he get it right or will he make a mistake? We all saw the debate. You can’t unsee that.”
Polis stopped short of calling on Biden to step aside as the presumptive Democratic standard-bearer but emphasized that the onus is on the President to prove himself.
“I think only he knows where he’s at and what he can do. I know that he and his family and Hunter are having these discussions,” Polis said.
“I think he’s really trying to figure out is he better off just … focusing on being the very best President of the United States that he can be for six months?” he added. “Or does he have the energy and the ability to be a candidate for the United States presidency for the next three months?”
Polis, generally regarded as more of a libertarian-style Democrat, argued that his party should have a serious “look at the polls” and acknowledge “we are down.” He further emphasized that something needs to change.
“You can’t pretend that you’re ahead when you’re down. Can we come back? Absolutely. We’re probably 4 or 5 points down nationally. Might be a little bit harder than that,” he said. “We need to change something about what we’re doing.”
“The good news is there’s a very weak candidate,” he added, noting there’s still time.
Nearly three-dozen congressional Democrats have come forward and called on Biden to step aside.
Biden is slated to officially become the party’s nominee within the coming weeks ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
The 81-year-old president told congressional Democrats earlier this month that he’s “firmly committed” to his reelection bid.
Moderator Jake Tapper asked Polis why Biden hasn’t done more to demonstrate his mental acuity since last month’s debate, making a comparison to someone proving they can ride a bicycle.
“It seems to me that if somebody said your future depends on whether or not you can ride a bicycle…then you would go out the next day and ride a bicycle,” Tapper mused.
Polis quickly shot back, “Well, the guy can definitely ride a bike. The guy is capable of being President of the United States. And he’s doing a fine job.”
“I think the question is, is he capable of running a winning campaign over the next three and a half months? And the evidence so far is we’re down against a very weak Republican candidate who’s a convicted felon.”
Polis further wished Biden a strong recovery from COVID-19 and was optimistic that the president would come back “full strength.”
Biden has publicly stated that he plans to hit the campaign trail again this week.
