As questions persist about whether President Joe Biden is mentally and physically fit to serve another four-year term, prominent Georgia Democrats continue to support him.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms urged voters to back Biden on Tuesday’s episode of “Politically Georgia.”
“He made it clear he’s not going anywhere,” Bottoms said. “I don’t think he should go anywhere, and we just need to rally around the person who we all rallied around in the primaries, when people had an opportunity to choose someone else and they didn’t.”
Bottoms, who joined the Biden campaign as a senior adviser last month ahead of the first presidential debate, said there is grassroots support for the president continuing his reelection bid.
“Overwhelmingly, what I’m hearing from folks is that they want to win and Joe Biden is our candidate, which means they want Joe Biden to win,” she said.
Biden’s poor debate performance was not lost on the former mayor, but Bottoms called on the public to look at his long track record rather than honing in on recent media appearances.
She emphasized what Biden has done as president, such as capping insulin costs for Americans on Medicare at $35 a month and his work on student loan debt relief.
“I saw great work coming out of this White House, and I believe wholeheartedly he’s always going to do what is best for this country,” Bottoms said. “I believe as long as he continues to take his case directly to the American people, as long as we stay out of the comment section and talk directly to voters, we will be victorious once again in Georgia and in this country.”
She noted, “He’s made it clear: He’s not getting out of the race. So nobody is going to force him out of the race.”
She said it would be undemocratic not to have the discussions about Biden, “but we are now this circular firing squad, and it’s not helping us get toward victory.”
Bottoms said the party needs to shift focus to Donald Trump’s shortcomings during his presidency and the “chaos” his administration caused.
“I can’t stress enough how difficult it was to lead without having a sane leader in the White House,” Bottoms said. “We’ve got Donald Trump under indictment, convicted of several crimes, who says some things that still just make me shake my head and hold my head in disgust.”
Afterward, state Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, joined the show to weigh in on potential vice presidential nominees for Trump and what’s at stake for this presidential election with the Republican convention days away in Milwaukee.
Wednesday on “Politically Georgia”: Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Tamar Hallerman joins the show to discuss where Georgia Democratic delegates stand on keeping Biden on the ticket, and AJC education reporter Martha Dalton will discuss religion in schools.
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