In a live interview Tuesday night with CNN, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet said he worries former President Donald Trump may win the election – “and maybe win it by a landslide and take with him the Senate and the House” – if President Joe Biden continues his run for a second term.
His interview comes after he said Monday that he hoped Senate Democrats would spend the week having open discussions about how to best move forward to beat Trump. Tuesday’s highly-anticipated weekly lunch with Senate Democrats was the first chance for such a dialogue, with the caucus meeting for the first time since the debate.
Though, like most other Democratic senators, Bennet dodged reporters’ questions immediately after the lunch. CNN later reported that he and two other high-ranking senators had expressed doubts about Biden’s ability to win against Trump during the closed-door meeting.
In addition to his Monday remarks, the CNN interview further indicated that the senator was on a different page than Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer who simply repeated “as I’ve said before, I’m with Joe,” to any question about his stance on Biden’s candidacy during a news conference after the lunch.
In the interview, Bennet echoed his comments from Monday, saying “for me, this isn’t a question about polling, it's not a question about politics. It’s a moral question about the future of our country, and I think it's critically important for us to come to grips with what we face if together we put this country on the path of electing Donald Trump again.”
He referenced twice his time as superintendent of schools in Denver, saying he believed he owed it to those children to ensure they have bright futures.
“Stakes could not be higher,” Bennet said. “I believe that if we elect Donald Trump president again, my generation of Americans will be the first generation to leave less opportunity, not more, to the kids coming after us.”
Though he applauded the president’s work during his first term and acknowledged that the president likely has different views on his campaign prospects, Bennet reiterated his calls from Monday for more conversation about the concerns over Biden’s vitality as a candidate.
“It’s not about brushing off the American people’s concerns. They (the Biden administration) have to address the American people’s concerns,” he said. “People that I represent from Colorado have deep concerns about whether or not the president can win this race.”
He told reporters Monday that he hadn’t spoken with the president in about six weeks but would be open to meeting with him.
He didn’t answer whether he would call for Biden to step aside, instead closing his interview by echoing previous remarks about how the election will have high stakes if Trump wins a second term.
“I believe that the entire future of our country is at stake. People say – I hear them all the time – ‘This is the most existential election, this is the most important election,’” he said. “This is the most important election. We are really behind. The president did not do a good job during the debate, and the week since has been a really tough week for the White House, and I think it’s critically important that they address the concerns of the American people, not ignore them.”
Kathryn Squyres is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C. She can be reached at ksquyres@durangoherald.com.
