KTSM 9 News is your local election headquarters, and we
are following growing calls from Democrats asking President Joe Biden
to step aside as the party's presidential nominee.
Thank you for choosing KTSM 9 News at six.
I'm Andy Morgan.
Monica has the night off now.
The division within the Democratic Party comes after Biden's poor
performance during June's debate and mounting concerns over his health.
KTSM 9 News reporter Teresa Ortiz spoke with a political
analyst on what a divided party means moving forward.
Teresa joins us live from our newsroom.
Teresa.
That's right, Andy.
As you could imagine, the divide among Democrats is not
ideal for the party, especially with Republicans standing firmly behind
former President Donald Trump.
This past week, that expert I spoke with sharing with
me the key issues Biden's campaign is facing ahead of
the Democratic National Convention.
Not only is it unprecedented in terms of the history
of what a convention and a nomination and a campaign
process looks like, we're also, I think, in in unprecedented
and remarkable times in terms of media and technology in
the way that people are using it.
Unprecedented events.
For the first time, an incumbent presidential candidate's own party
members are calling for him to back out of the
race.
A political expert explaining to me what this division would
mean, what the Democratic National Convention one month away.
If he goes into the Chicago convention and is still
the candidate and insistent that that he is the the
person to be the nominee, There's a good chance that
the convention becomes contested.
There's a good chance that a lot of support continues
to drop off.
A drop off in support for Biden, but also Democrats
nationwide affecting down ballots for congressional and local elections.
Party members left wondering if Biden has enough health and
stamina to even finish his current term.
I think the, the biggest concern is age and I
think that that was heightened by the debate.
You know, the, the debate sort of showed the president
in in what seemed like a weakened state, the president's
recent COVID diagnosis not helping the situation.
Doctor Pinyada said the DNC has its own rules on
selecting who will be top of ballot, but to avoid
the messiest situation would rely on Biden removing himself prior
to the nomination.
I think the the the most efficient path for for
lack of a a better description is the president president
stepping down before the convention that is handing power over
to the vice president.
However, nothing is set until Biden says so himself.
All of this relies on the president himself saying that
he is not going to stand for the nomination or
potentially even step down as president.
Now, despite the growing calls for President Biden to drop
out, his campaign aggressively maintains that he is well prepared
to challenge Donald Trump and remain in the Oval Office
for another four years.
Live in The Newsroom, Teresa Ortiz, KTSM 9 news back
to you, Teresa.
Thank you.
And you can add Congressman Gabe Vasquez to the growing
number of Democrats calling on President Biden to pull out
of the race.
The congressman who represents Las Cruces releasing this statement to
KTSM, reading in part quotes.
I believe too many of our fundamental freedoms and the
well-being of our nation are at risk under a Trump
presidency, and President Biden should step aside to give Democrats
the best opportunity to win this November.
With abortion rights under attack and our democracy at stake,
we must unite to defeat Donald Trump and MAGA extremists
in quotes.