Biden's Senate defender claims he never saw mental decline until debate: 'I was shocked'

Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) insisted to CNN that he had no clue as to how severely former President Joe Biden's mental acuity had declined until his disastrous debate with then-candidate Donald Trump.

Coons was asked about his long defense of Biden being able to serve a second term after stories from the new book "Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House" say Coons knew he would have to be part of the post-debate "cleanup crew."

Defenders of Harris say her time as the nominee was too short for voters to really get to know her.

"Now, there are some people who‘ve written on this. ... If you felt that way, maybe you shouldn‘t have criticized Democrats for their reservations about President Biden at the time. Do you wish you had done things differently at this point?” anchor John Berman asked.

"Well, John, obviously, if I had any idea that President Biden was going to perform as poorly as he did at that debate, I would have been advising him differently and advocating differently. That debate performance was the first time I saw anything like that out of President Biden," Coons replied.

"He had been and was a strong and capable president, and he still had strong public performances, interviews, and just the next day went to North Carolina and spoke forcefully at a rally. But I was shocked. I was genuinely surprised by that performance that evening and was wrestling with what it meant for our path forward," he continued.

Biden's refusal to let then-Vice President Kamala Harris have a longer chance at being the Democrats' nominee is still a sore spot within the party. Harris' horrific performance in the general election has since raised questions whether she should run for president in 2028. Some Democratic governors, like California's Gavin Newsom and Illinois' JB Pritzker, appear to be positioning themselves to be in the top spot.

Defenders of Harris say her time as the nominee was too short for voters to really get to know her. There is a chance Harris will instead opt to run for governor of California.

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