Top Democrats who days ago defended Biden are changing their tunes
- Rep. Ritchie Torres once chided Biden doubters but said Wednesday that Dems must assess "hard numbers."
- Sen. Richard Blumenthal supports Biden but said that he's "deeply concerned" about the election.
On Monday, Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York chided his fellow Democrats for the "drip, drip, drip of public statements of no confidence" about President Joe Biden. On Wednesday, he added to that drip himself, though did not explicitly call on the president to bow out of the race.
Even those who publicly support the president are sounding the alarm: Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who has affirmed that he's behind Biden since the debate, said on Wednesday that he's "deeply concerned about Joe Biden winning this November."
As Democrats remain divided on how to deal with Biden — and the vibes on Capitol Hill remain terrible — recent poll numbers are pouring gasoline on an already-blazing fire. The Cook Political Report said Democrats were losing ground in six key battleground states, which seemed to worry Torres. Before sharing his updated statement, he posted a picture of the new assessment on Twitter with the caption, "Alarming and sobering."
In his statement from Monday, Torres said the debate surrounding Biden's reelection bid risked weakening his candidacy, while in his update he seemed focused on quantitative assessments over qualitative ones.
"What matters is not how we feel but what the numbers tell us," Torres said Wednesday. "An unsentimental analysis of the cold hard numbers — which have no personal feelings or political loyalties — should inform what we decide and whom we nominate."
Torres minced no words during an interview Wednesday with CNN, highlighting the down-ballot effects of the election and saying that "if we are going on a political suicide mission, we should at least be honest about it."
Torres' and Blumenthal's offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Other Democrats seem to be growing increasingly nervous, too. Rep. Nancy Pelosi failed to forcefully endorse the president Wednesday during a talk-show appearance, instead offering an uncharacteristically vague response.