East TN lawmakers react to Biden’s withdrawal from presidential race

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — 6 News spoke with several lawmakers from East Tennessee on Sunday following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he will not seek reelection.

“I will have to say surprised. Even though there has been talk and all of that, I am surprised,” said State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville).

Johnson said despite President Biden stepping out of the race, the Democratic Party is united.

“I am a little sad of course, but eager to move forward because what one thing Democrats know we are solidified, and we are united on beating the Trump Vance ticket,” said Johnson.

With the Republican Party coming out of their national convention, State Senator Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville) said unity is paramount, but it could be difficult for Democrats.

“It’s going to be tough on the Democrats to try to now get together behind a common candidate,” said Briggs.

However, he said Biden made the right decision.

“After the debates that he had at the end of June. I had concerns, just like so many other Democrats and Republicans. I think the writing was on the wall, you know, for Democrats and eventually for him. That said, this was the right thing to do both for him and for the country,” said Briggs.

State Representative Sam McKenzie (D-Knoxville) agreed, backing Biden’s decision.

“One thing I’ve always said, he will make the right decision at the right time for the good of the country, for the good of the party. He’s made this decision and now it’s time for the Democrats to roll up our sleeves and figure out who the best candidates are going to be and get behind him or her,” said McKenzie.

With the Democratic National Convention approaching, President Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris

“There’s a lot of quality candidates out there. It’s just which one can get the job done. You know, which one is not too polarizing to those swing votes,” said McKenzie.

U.S. Congressman Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee) said finding that candidate could be difficult for Democrats and remains cautiously optimistic for Republicans.

“If everybody at the convention votes for Donald Trump and that’s all the votes he gets, he loses in a big way. I think President Trump, he needs to he needs to just keep doing what he’s doing. He’s got to speak to the public and talk about his programs in the past and just the disaster that this White House has been,” said Burchett.

However, they won’t know who they are running against until they are nominated in August.

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