Schiff Refuses to Say If He Supports Biden or Supports A Replacement

During an interview on Meet the Press Sunday, U.S. Senate candidate and Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) refused to say if he supports President Joe Biden staying in the race or if he supports another candidate like Vice President Kamala Harris taking his place, leaving his support up in the air.

Since President Biden’s disastrous debate performance in late June, the questions of whether he stays in the race or is replaced by another candidate has remained a pressing question across the country. Many are now concerned with his age and cognitive abilities, with several top Democrats now opposing Biden and wanting a different candidate in his place. The divisions of support and opposition go down to the state level. In California, many congressional members want Biden replace, but with many higher ranking democrats such as Vice President Harris, Governor Gavin Newsom, and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) fully supporting the President.

Since the debate, Biden’s increased scrutiny and Republican candidate Donald Trump taking a backseat and letting the damage unfold has only pushed Trump ahead nationally. While the two were at a virtual tie at the time of the debate, Trump is now ahead 42.1% to Biden’s 39.9% and Independent Robert Kennedy Jr.’s 9.6%. Meanwhile, Biden’s approval rating has plummeted from around 40% at the time of the debate to 37.2%. For Biden’s part, he has remained defiant, telling Democratic leaders on Monday that he is staying in the race.

Back in California, the question of U.S. Senate candidate support for presidential candidates has seen an unusual flip. For months, Senate candidate and former baseball star Steve Garvey (R) had been hounded on who he supported in the 2024 presidential election. In the debates, other candidates even called him out as a “dodger” for avoiding the question if he supported Trump. Meanwhile, Schiff had no problem saying that he was all for Biden in the campaign.

But everything suddenly changed in the beginning of the month. Garvey, who had avoided party labels, finally decided to say that he would be voting for Trump, with Biden’s debate performance giving him the pull he needed to announce that. Schiff, meanwhile, was suddenly being questioned on his support. While many of his colleagues in Washington either stood to support Biden or called for another candidate, Schiff had radio silence. The candidate support question, long a weak spot for the Garvey campaign, was suddenly turned around on Schiff.

This led to Schiff’s Meet the Press interview; he attempted to take a middle of the road course while being pressed on if Harris would beat Trump or if he supported Biden dropping out. In a question on supporting Harris, Schiff said that “Harris would be a phenomenal President. I think she has the experience, the judgment, the leadership ability to be an extraordinary president. She very well could win overwhelmingly.”

However, when he was asked if Biden would win, Schiff was more uneasy, stating that “Either he has to win overwhelmingly or he has to pass the torch to someone who can.”

This led to the question if Biden should drop out or if Harris should take over.

Schiff on candidate support

“Before we get into a decision about who else it should be, the president needs to make a decision whether it’s him,” said Schiff. When asked again for a clearer answer, Schiff responded by saying “I think Biden should take the time talk to people outside of his immediate circle, talk to people he respects, people with objectivity, people with distance, and make the right decision for the country. And I’m confident Joe Biden has always made the fundamental distinguishing distinction between he and Donald Trump.”

This only led to another uncomfortable question for Schiff on if he thought that Biden should take cognitive tests. Schiff tried to spin it around by saying that both candidates should take the test.

“Look, I’d be happy if both the president and Donald Trump took cognitive tests,” added Schiff on Sunday. “I think they both should be willing to take a test. I think, frankly, a test would show Donald Trump has a serious illness of one kind or another.

“Ultimately, the decision is going to come down to what Joe Biden thinks is best. And if his decision is to run, then run hard and beat that SOB. And if his decision is to pass the torch, then the president should do everything in his power to make that other candidate successful.”

However, Schiff’s responses were seen as both confusing and underwhelming after the interview, with many analysts saying that the question of candidate backing now being firmly passed to Schiff in the Senate race.

“Schiff just gave Garvey ammunition which, at the beginning of the race proper in March, would have been unthinkable to think that it would happen,” explained Angela Hewitt, a Washington based elections analyst, to the Globe on Monday. “Schiff had Garvey boxed in on the question of candidate support. Garvey was unwilling to say if he was going to vote for Trump outright, and Schiff was safe with his pick of Biden.”

“But after Biden’s debate performance, wow. Garvey managed to say he would support Trump, since he could still pull centrists and disaffected Democrats in by pointing to Biden’s performance as a main factor. Schiff, meanwhile, has been on the fence. And that position is not helping him. Democrats are split on the Biden issue, and by taking no sides, he’s just alienating both. He’s probably hoping that by taking no sides he doesn’t make anyone mad while staying n the good graces of Biden while also not making Harris or other potential replaces mad either. But instead he’s making everyone furious.”

“Look, this one issue will not turn the tide against him in the Senate race. But Garvey now has one up over Schiff on an issue that many thought would not be flipped. Garvey was looking for a boost, and this is a decent start. Portraying Schiff as wishy-washy on a big issue that only weeks ago was a weak point of Garvey is, well, something of a blessing.”

As of Monday afternoon, Biden has remained defiant in the race and has remained adamant that he stay in.