Many Republicans are rooting — and in fact pushing — for President Joe Biden to remain atop the Democratic presidential ticket over the uncertainty of a replacement candidate, the Washington Examiner reported Monday.
While Democratic Party leaders and lawmakers continue to scramble in search of solutions in the aftermath of Biden's debate performance nearly two weeks ago, many Republicans want Biden to remain right where he is for a simple reason — he's the easiest to defeat in November, they say.
"I do think there's an obvious feeling that if Biden remains on the ticket, that he would be easier to defeat," GOP consultant Saul Anuzis told the Examiner. "Any candidate regardless of who it would be who would replace Biden creates a degree of uncertainty. You don't know how they would play out. You don't know how they would perform in the general election."
As another GOP operative told the Examiner, "I'm not saying Trump couldn't beat another Democrat other than Biden — I think he absolutely could. It just makes everything a little less certain."
The National Republican Congressional Committee went so far as to issue a warning, of sorts, if Democrats push to remove Biden from the ticket.
"House Republicans are sharpening our knives if extreme House Democrats dump Joe Biden — or we will remind voters Kamala Harris is next in line if they don't," the NRCC said in a social media post last week.
Further, Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump has branded Harris "Laffin" while his team has opted for "Cackling" Kamala Harris, as Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Newsmax on Friday.
"While there is no question President Biden is likely the weakest opponent, the conundrum facing the Democrats is that the most immediate alternative is a vice president who has her own real set of vulnerabilities," Brian Walsh, a Republican strategist, told the Examiner. "I think the challenge for Democrats is 'how do you pass over the current vice president even if you have stronger candidates elsewhere.' "
As it stands, Biden is adamant that he's staying in the race. On Friday he said he would only drop out if "the Lord almighty" told him to and on Monday, he told congressional Democrats it's time for the party drama "to end" — he's staying in the race.