Members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation are now reacting to President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. The majority Republican delegation says Biden’s announcement should have come much earlier than Sunday.
In his statement, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Baton Rouge) accused Biden of mismanaging the nation.
“I’ve pointed out for two years that President Biden’s mental capacity has been declining,” Sen. Cassidy wrote on Twitter. “In that time, he’s thrown the country, the economy, and the Democratic party (sic) into disarray. This decision is overdue.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Benton) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Metairie) accused the Democratic Party of going against the will of its members.
“At this unprecedented juncture in American history, we must be clear about what just happened,” Speaker Johnson tweeted. “The Democrat Party (sic) forced the Democrat (sic) nominee off the ballot, just over 100 days before the election.”
“Democrat party (sic) bosses just proved that they have absolutely no respect for their own voters,” Scalise said in a tweet of his own. “After lecturing others about democracy, they just forced Joe Biden off the ticket—trashing the primary choice of 14 million of their own voters.”
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-Lafayette) is using Biden’s announcement to amplify his calls to force Biden out of office now.
The Roy-Higgins bill should be forced now,” Higgins tweeted, referring to a resolution that he and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) have offered demanding that members of Biden’s cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment and declare Biden incapacitated and unfit to hold office. “Clearly, if POTUS is admitting that he’s not up to the task of campaigning effectively, if he is confessing that he lacks what it requires of a man to be a candidate for President of the United States, then he’s confessing that he lacks what is required to be the President of the United States.”
Lame duck Rep. Garret Graves (R-Baton Rouge) said he will be praying for Biden and his family.
“Having watched loved ones go through cognitive decline, I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone, and continuing that decline over another four years would be concerning,” Rep. Graves tweeted. “The president (sic) must make profoundly consequential decisions—he has the nuclear codes. For the sake of the nation, Joe Biden made the right decision.
Rep. Julia Letlow (R-Start) says Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race changes nothing.
"Even though President Biden will not be running, whoever the Democrats nominate will continue his Administration’s failed policies," Rep. Letlow said, in part, on Twitter.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-Madisonville) has not published his reactions to Biden’s withdrawal as of this publication.
