In a new statement, Independent Maine Senator Angus King’s office said he’s “concerned” by President Biden’s much-criticized debate performance, but stopped short of calling for him to end his re-election bid.
A spokesman for King said the president “should take every opportunity in the coming days to establish his capacity to continue the campaign and the job of the presidency through unscripted interviews and direct interactions with voters.”
“It is only through such a public process that he can demonstrate that Thursday was simply an off night and that his past ability to define the issues and seek common sense solutions remains undiminished,” spokesman Matthew Felling said in the statement Saturday.
King is an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats.
Biden continues to face pressure to bow out of the race after what many, including some within his own party, saw as a listless and lifeless performance. The 81-year-old Democrat’s showing at the debate left supporters, prognosticators, and some Democratic members of Congress wondering whether he’s able to forcefully campaign against his Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, and, if elected, carry out the duties of the office for another four years.
Representative Jared Golden, a Maine Democrat, last week drew criticism for saying that he believed Trump will win the election. “Donald Trump is going to win. And I’m okay with that,” Golden wrote in an op-ed published in the Bangor Daily News.
Golden, a marine veteran, said he will not vote for Trump. He also stopped short of saying Biden should drop out of the race.
US Representative Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Salem who briefly ran for president in 2020, said explicitly that Biden should “step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump.”
Others, similar to King’s statement, walked a fine line: Governor Maura Healey, who’s been a leading surrogate for Biden, said Biden should “listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump.” She added that Biden “saved our democracy in 2020 and has done an outstanding job over the last four years.”
Jackie Kucinich of the Globe staff contributed.
Sean Cotter can be reached at sean.cotter@globe.com. Follow him @cotterreporter.