Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., on Monday criticized The New York Times and the media’s focus on President Biden’s rocky debate performance as the chief executive faces several calls to drop out of the race.
“If there’s an editorial board out there — and I’m looking at you, New York Times — and you watch that performance and you’re going to spend all your time focused on why you’re convinced that having Joe Biden step aside is the best path forward for the American people and very little time on the performance of Donald Trump — a man who has been convicted of 34 felonies, of sexual assault, held liable for commercial fraud and faces dozens more charges and who lied and lied and lied on that stage — If that‘s not alarming and concerning to you, then I‘d like you to refocus your lens,” Coons said.
CNN’s Kasie Hunt questioned Coons over whether Biden should consider dropping out if it becomes clear he could lose to former President Trump in November, as media outlets, including The New York Times’ editorial board, argue that Biden should bow out.
Coons said elected officials will stand by Biden and think he’s the “strongest” Democratic candidate.
Sen. Chris Coons joined CNN’s Kasie Hunt on Monday, July 1, 2024, for an interview. (Screenshot/CNN)
Hunt pressed Coons further on The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd’s column for the newspaper. Dowd wrote that Biden “created a reality distortion field where we’re told not to believe what we’ve plainly seen.”
“What do you say to people who feel like they are being gaslit or somehow lied to or told that what they seem to see with their own eyes isn’t actually the case?” Hunt asked.
Coons said Biden was “thunderstruck” by Trump’s lies on stage at the debate, as CNN showed video of the two candidates on stage.
“He looked like that from the moment he walked out on stage before anything ever came out of Trump’s mouth,” Hunt pushed back.
President Joe Biden and Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump participate in the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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Coons appeared frustrated.
“If I could finish my sentence, then I’ll let you ask the next question,” he said.
Coons conceded that Biden needed to reassure Americans he was up for the job.
“I think that President Biden needs to reassure those who were paying attention by giving more and more of the sorts of interviews and impromptu events and engagements that put him in America’s living room in the first place,” Coons said.
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The New York Times editorial board said Biden’s candidacy is a “reckless gamble.”
“The president appeared on Thursday night as the shadow of a great public servant. He struggled to explain what he would accomplish in a second term. He struggled to respond to Mr. Trump’s provocations. He struggled to hold Mr. Trump accountable for his lies, his failures and his chilling plans. More than once, he struggled to make it to the end of a sentence,” they wrote.
