Jake Tapper Shuts Down Democratic Congressman’s Defense of Biden After Bad Debate: ‘With All Due Respect, Sir…’

CNN’s Jake Tapper was not buying the defense of President Joe Biden offered by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) on Tuesday.

Biden turned in a bad performance in his debate with former President Donald Trump on Thursday, sparking very public discussions about whether the president should step aside and pave the way for the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris or another Democrat in an open convention in August.

Predictably, Democratic lawmakers had faced a barrage of questions about Biden’s abilities and whether he should continue. Virtually all have stood by the president, except for Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), who on Tuesday became the first Democratic member of Congress to call on Biden to withdraw his candidacy .

Appearing on Tuesday’s installment of The Lead on Tuesday, Thompson was asked to weigh in. The lawmaker chalked Biden’s performance up to “just a bad day,” which Tapper rejected as an explanation:

TAPPER: How concerned are you about President Biden’s standing right now? We have a new poll from CNN. Most voters – 75%, I think of voters – think Democrats have a better chance of keeping the White House if Biden is not the nominee. And we have a new poll suggesting that Vice President Kamala Harris is actually a stronger challenge within the margin of error to Donald Trump than President Biden is. Are you concerned about president Biden’s acuity and his ability to win?

THOMPSON: Well, just like all of us who have committed to making sure that Donald Trump is not put back in the White House. We want the best foot forward. I would still lead with President Biden. He’s a good man. His policies have worked and we’ll see how it works out. If the new strategy, taking it to the people, doing various town hall-type meetings or interviews works out, then so be it. But I think at the end of the day, Democrats need to be united. If in fact we go forward and that message is positive, then we have, in fact done what’s in the best interests of this country. But I think– I wouldn’t put everything on just one bad debate. I’ve been in elective office a good while. Some days are just not good days. That debate was not a good day. But it’s not the end of a campaign. It’s not the end of his reelection effort. But we have to do some things to reassure the public that it was not just a one-off, but it was just a bad day.

TAPPER: With all due respect, Sir, it wasn’t just a bad debate. I mean, we’ve seen other incidents ,and I’m not just talking about aging. We all age. My parents are in their 80s. I get it. It happens if we’re lucky enough to make it to our 80s, it happens. It seems– it doesn’t seem like it’s just aging, don’t you think?

THOMPSON: Well, I don’t think that way. I’ve known him for quite awhile. As people mature. things happen. But if I look at the policies, if I look at what his administration stands for, it’s what keeps America great. He’s a great leader. He’s respected by people around the world, and that has value. Now Donald Trump, on the other hand, is not that. So, when I look at the two individuals running for president leading both tickets, I say Joe Biden is the person.

Thompson went on to again concede that Biden had a bad debate.

Watch above via CNN.