U.S. Pennsylvania Senate nominee Dave McCormick on Friday raised the possibility of White House officials using the 25th Amendment to remove President Joe Biden from office due to poor physical fitness due to his poor debate performance on Thursday.
McCormick suggested White House officials consider the 25th Amendment during an appearance on KDKA NewsRadio in Pittsburgh.
“As an American, put aside politics for a second, we should be worried. Our founders, our forefathers had some vision on this. They had something called the 25th Amendment,” said McCormick. “If the people around the president think he is not capable of fulfilling his responsibilities in a time of war,” he continued, “then they have a responsibility to acknowledge that and possibly replace the president.”
McCormick then confirmed if Biden’s performance at the debate is illustrative of his performance in office, then he suggested Biden should be immediately replaced using the 25th Amendment, which provides in Section 4, “the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress” can declare in writing that the president “is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”
Using the 25th Amendment would allow Vice President Kamala Harris to serve the remainder of Biden’s term.
“If what we saw last night is reflective of what he is like day to day, when they’re sitting with him, talking about how to deal with Iran, the possibility of Iran having a nuclear weapon, attacking U.S. troops in Syria,” answered McCormick, “If you’re Secretary of Defense or Attorney General or Secretary of State, you have a responsibility to say, ‘Hey wait a second, this guy is not up for the job.'”
McCormick confirmed, “Yes, I am saying that is the thing they should be asking themselves right now.”
The former Trump administration official added that Biden’s debate performance also “reinforced” the need for “new leadership.”
“We need new leadership in the White House, we need new leadership in the Senate,” he said.
McCormick added, “We need people that will look forward and confront these problems, bring sanity and stability to our economic policy, to our border, to our role in the world, peace through strength.”
McCormick also said in a post to the social media platform X that Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), his general election opponent, lied about Biden’s fitness.
“Bob Casey has said over and over that his ‘close friend’ Joe Biden, with whom he votes 98 [percent] of the time, is fit to be president.” McCormick wrote on Friday. He added, “What we all saw last night proves Casey is lying.”
Bob Casey has said over and over that his “close friend” Joe Biden, with whom he votes 98% of the time, is fit to be president.
What we all saw last night proves Casey is lying. pic.twitter.com/8vUy4F5FIk
— Dave McCormick (@DaveMcCormickPA) June 28, 2024
Despite calls from some Democrats and Biden supporters for Biden to withdraw from the presidential contest and allow another candidate to become the party’s nominee at its August 19 convention, the 81-year-old president vowed to continue his campaign during a Friday campaign event in North Carolina.
“I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” Biden acknowledged.
He nonetheless maintained, “I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. I know how to do this job.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Dave McCormick” by Dave McCormick.
