RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Davis on Tuesday said President Joe Biden’s debate performance was “a disaster” and added he needs to “step up” if he remains in the race.
Davis, who represents North Carolina’s first congressional district in eastern North Carolina, made the comments at a press conference while meeting with farmers impacted by recent drought conditions.
“When I look at the debate, I’m going to be plainspoken,” Davis said. “I believe the president’s delivery at the debate was a disaster. My takeaway from the debate was people want a fighter and they want the truth. Even if they can’t find that in one person, they want a fighter.”
Davis declined to say whether Biden should remain in the race.
“The message for the campaign is if this is what you want, then people want to see you fighting,” he said. “It’s not my job to have the president step out. But if he’s going to stay in, he needs to step up.”
A U.S. Air Force veteran, Davis is serving his first term in Congress after spending more than a decade in the state Senate. He is running for re-election this year.
“We have to fight for the east,” Davis said. “My takeaway from all of this is I’m going to stay in this doggone fight for the people of eastern North Carolina.”
Davis will face Republican Laurie Buckhout, a retired Army colonel, in what’s considered the only tossup House district in North Carolina and among several that likely will determine which party controls the chamber in 2025.
In a statement provided by her campaign, Buckhout said, “Don Davis’ answer on Joe Biden’s debate performance made about as much sense as Joe Biden trying to answer a question at the debate. Rather than demand a commander-in-chief who is up to the challenges of the job, Don Davis deflected.”
“I spent 26 years in the Army, I know when I see a fighter and I agree that North Carolinians want someone to fight for them, but neither Joe Biden or Don Davis are fighters,” she continued in her statement. “Working families across the first district are suffering due to Biden’s economic disaster. During the debate, Joe Biden made clear for the world to see that he is not up to that task.”
Delanie Bomar, a spokesperson for the National Republican Campaign Committee, wrote in an email, “Once again, Don Davis is falling in line with his Democrat party bosses instead of advocating for what’s best for North Carolina. We all saw in the debate that Biden is unfit to serve as president and Davis should be honest with North Carolinians about that, but unfortunately, he won’t be.”
Following last week’s debate, the Biden campaign has highlighted the president’s rally in North Carolina the following day where he sought to energetically motivate voters in this key swing state and acknowledged his performance the night before.
“I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what to do: I know how to tell the truth,” Biden told the crowd at the rally.
The Biden campaign released a memo over the weekend, saying they don’t believe the debate changed “the horse race”.
“For all the hand-wringing coming out of Thursday, here’s the truth: this election was incredibly close before Thursday, and by every metric we’ve seen since, it remains just as close,” wrote Jen O’Malley Dillon, the Biden-Harris campaign chair.
State Attorney General Josh Stein, the Democratic nominee for governor, spoke at Biden’s rally and said he’s “ready to turn North Carolina blue”.
Campaign leaders have viewed North Carolina as their best opportunity to flip a state previously won by former president Donald Trump.
This week, officials in the Biden administration are in the state highlighting various projects, including some funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which President Biden signed in 2021.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg attended the groundbreaking for the Raleigh-to-Richmond rail line, which is receiving more than $1 billion in federal funding. When asked, he declined to address the concerns about the president’s performance at the debate.
“Rules prevent me from speaking about campaigns and elections while I’m in this capacity,” he said. “What I will say is how proud I am to be working in President Biden’s administration and team.
“President Biden’s leadership has delivered things that up until now were just talk,” Buttigieg continued. “We saw a lot of talk before back when I was mayor. We heard a lot of talk about national infrastructure funding, didn’t come together. Now, it’s coming together.”
