'Helping Trump': Fetterman, Pelosi and other Democrats reject calls to abandon Biden

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., on Sunday defended President Joe Biden against calls that he should step aside in the 2024 election, pointing out that he survived a rough debate ahead of his own 2022 Senate election.

“There was that same kind of a freak out after my debate,” Fetterman said during an interview on "Fox News Sunday." “Everybody was calling that was the end of my career.”

Fetterman faced skepticism about his electability in 2022 after he experienced a stroke while running for his swing state Senate seat. During a debate against his Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, just weeks before the election, Fetterman at times struggled to speak and articulate his policy positions.

He ended up beating Oz by five points in the race.

The senator from Pennsylvania on Sunday argued that he believes Biden is best positioned to defeat former President Donald Trump in the presidential election “despite all of the Democrats wetting the bed,” over Biden’s debate performance last week.

Some political pundits and Democratic strategists have urged Biden, 81, not to accept the Democratic nomination later this summer after he froze and struggled to make his pitch to voters last week, bringing renewed focus and concerns about his age and ability to serve a second term.

“That whole abandoned Biden thing – that's the dumbest s—,” Fetterman said Wednesday. “If you're willing to walk away from Joe Biden, you're, by defecting, helping Trump. And that's really it.”

Fetterman was far from the only Democrat on Sunday who rejected calls for Biden to bow out.

Democratic leaders including Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, both chalked Biden’s debate performance up to a bad night ? rather than a campaign-ending moment ? during appearances on CNN’s "State of the Union."

The two octogenarians, Pelosi is 84 and Clyburn is 83, argued that Biden’s accomplishments as president are more indicative of his ability to lead than what he said at one debate. Pelosi also suggested that it “could be chaotic” for Democrats to choose a different nominee so late in the process. The general election is a mere five months away.

Other Democrats shared similar support for the president.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, 65, pushed back on concerns about Biden's age, saying the president was “energetic” and "alert in conversation" when she saw him at an event for the Stonewall National Monument the morning after the debate.

"One bad night does not affect three and a half years of a stellar accomplishment," Hochul said during and interview on MSNBC Sunday morning. "Regardless of what people are saying, I say to my friends who are Democrats, wake up today, start with a plan. Get back on the team and march forward to victory."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y, 53, acknowledged Biden's performance was "underwhelming," but rebuked rumors that he was open to replacing Biden after he appeared to sidestep a reporter's question on Friday about whether Biden is the most effective messenger for the Democratic Party.

"It certainly was a setback. Of course, I believe a set back is nothing more than a set up for a come back," Jeffries said in an interview on MSNBC Sunday morning.

Jeffries also said that he is in ongoing conversations with Democratic lawmakers after some members have expressed concern about Biden staying in the race.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fetterman, other top Dems reject calls to abandon Biden after debate