'He's the guy who beat Trump': Rep. Dean on why she wants Biden to stay in race

Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean is from the critical swing state of Pennsylvania. She hit the campaign trail with President Biden over the weekend and as other House Democrats are asking him to drop out of the race. Rep. Dean joined Geoff Bennett to discuss her support.

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Geoff Bennett: And now, for a different take, we turn to Congresswoman Madeleine Dean from the critical swing state of Pennsylvania. She hit the campaign trail with the president over the weekend. And she joins us now.

Congresswoman, thanks so much for being with us, and welcome to the “NewsHour.”

Thanks so much for being with us. Welcome to the “NewsHour.”

Rep. Madeleine Dean: Pleased to be with you. Thanks for having me.

Geoff Bennett: I want to get you to respond to what we heard from your colleague Adam Smith, that President Biden is an ineffective messenger who should not have a place at the top of the ticket in this election.

Rep. Madeleine Dean: Well, let me begin by saying how much I admire and respect Ranking Member Smith. He has been such a critical guide to our caucus on Armed Services and so many other top issues.

So I just have complete respect for what he said, the way he’s thought it through, and the communication he has done directly with the White House.

I just happen to be in a different place. What I am is that I am unapologetically supportive of the president, his record, his decency, and his integrity. And I, like Adam Smith, am very clear-eyed about the challenges in front of us.

So what I have been doing is talking to our leadership, talking to the administration, talking to the campaign itself. But more importantly than all of that, I have been talking to my constituents. So I’d be happy to tell you what my constituents say.

Geoff Bennett: Well, before we get to that, in that same letter that the president wrote to congressional Democrats that I referenced earlier, he said that “Democrats have the record, the vision, and the fundamental Commitment to America’s freedoms and our democracy to win.”

In your view, does President Biden have the capacity to make that argument in a way that resonates with voters and win the election?

Rep. Madeleine Dean: He’s made that argument very, very effectively. He’s the only person who did defeat Donald Trump. He did that four years ago. So he has the right to say that, and he has the record to back it up.

Geoff Bennett: What do you say to Democrats who support President Biden, who like President Biden, but who think that he lost a step and that the debate revealed some real vulnerabilities that imperil his chances of winning the White House come November, and that, given the stakes, the existential stakes that so many Democrats see in this election, that now is the time to change course?

The convention’s a month away. Now’s the time to do it.

Rep. Madeleine Dean: Well, I will say to you that I have constituents who are calling me, texting me, writing me on both sides of this, some who say that President Biden must step aside, that the existential threat that is Donald Trump in a presidency we have seen in the past, which will only be catastrophically worse in the future, they believe he should step aside.

And I understand their arguments. I also have those who have said, no, he’s the guy who did beat Donald Trump. We don’t know that anybody else can.

And so I am counting on listening to my constituents and literally conveying this information directly to the administration and to the campaign, as well as to our leadership.

I will tell you, I think you know, I traveled with the president yesterday in Pennsylvania to a fantastic church in Mount Airy with a service that lifted us all right out of our seats. And the president was well-spirited. He worked from a notebook. I know the teleprompter argument goes on.

He worked nicely from a notebook. We also were together in front of folks who were organizers on the campaign side and labor, where the president spoke without any notes, and he was terrific. He was just fine.

I was there to say, I’m a Pennsylvanian. I’m lucky to serve my constituents. And I’m lucky to stand on the record of all the dollars, investments we have brought into Pennsylvania as a result of the last three-and-a-half years, the legislation that we put forward, billions of dollars in private sector investment, more than that in public sector investment, a half-a-million new job start-ups, a half-a-million new small business start-ups.

So there’s a great record there, but I want to be very realistic. I am clear-eyed about the challenges ahead of us and more clear-eyed about that we must defeat Donald Trump. And so I say to Democrats, independents, Republicans who agree that our republic is on the line.

Americans need to listen, see Joe Biden out there more,see him face-to-face with the American people and make their decision. We have to defeat Donald Trump.

Geoff Bennett: Well, Pennsylvania, as you well know, is a critical must-win state for President Biden. And right now, four recent national polls have Donald Trump leading in Pennsylvania. One poll, the Bloomberg poll, has him up by some seven points.

Do you believe that President Biden can win Pennsylvania in this election, and what’s it going to take?

Rep. Madeleine Dean: Well, that’s exactly what I say when I’m saying clear-eyed. I think all the data must be before us, before Pennsylvania’s state party.

I have spoken to Governor Shapiro about that. We have to take into consideration the very numbers you’re talking about.

Geoff Bennett: How much longer can this go on, this circular firing squad among Democrats, all of this public hand-wringing about whether or not President Biden should remain at the top of the ticket? How much longer can this go on? And how much damage do you think this has done to him and to the ticket of President Biden and Vice President Harris?

Rep. Madeleine Dean: How much longer it can go on, I don’t have an answer for you. I do know that we’re at such a critical phase, and the election is 118 or 19 days away.

That will go by very, very quickly. But I have a real confidence in this party. I have a real confidence in Democrats. As you know, we just got back in Washington. We’re voting in about 10 minutes. It’s an evening vote session. And we will be in caucus tomorrow.

So I don’t see, — and I have to admit I didn’t watch the news all day, but I don’t see exactly a circular firing squad. I talked to my colleagues over the course of the last 10 days. And to a person, they have been extraordinarily thoughtful, worried, clear-eyed, but extraordinarily thoughtful.

And I think we will see that tomorrow in caucus.

Geoff Bennett: There are fewer than 10 House Democrats who’ve come out publicly to say that President Biden should withdraw from the race.

Privately, how many Democrats would you say hold that same view?

Rep. Madeleine Dean: I don’t have that number at all.

Geoff Bennett: All right, that is Congresswoman Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania.

Thanks so much for joining us this evening, on an evening where you have votes. We appreciate your time.

Rep. Madeleine Dean: My pleasure. Thank you.