Warner on Biden: ‘Time for conversations about the strongest path forward’

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who had tried to convene a meeting of Democratic senators Monday to discuss President Biden’s viability as the party’s nominee for president, urged his fellow Democrats to “have conversations about the strongest path forward” heading into the November election.

“With so much at stake in the upcoming election, now is the time for conversations about the strongest path forward,” he said Monday.

Warner said he wants Biden “to more aggressively make his case to the American people” for why he should be reelected.

But he said he also wants Biden to hear from a “broader group of voices about how to prevent” Trump from returning to the White House, signaling a desire for a broader conversation about how to beat Trump in November.

“As these conversations continue, I believe it is incumbent upon the President to more aggressively make his case to the American people, and to hear directly from a broader group of voices about how to best prevent Trump’s lawlessness from returning to the White House,” he said in his statement.

Warner attracted a huge amount of attention Friday after it was revealed that he was trying to convene a group of Senate Democrats to talk about Biden’s future.

Two sources familiar with the effort said the ultimate purpose of that discussion was to develop resolve to ask Biden to drop his presidential bid.

But Warner and some of his associates later framed his outreach to fellow Democrats as an attempt to simply promote a discussion about the best path forward.

Warner told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday that he is looking forward to “talk face-to-face with my colleagues” about the election.

“I’ve had tough campaigns in my time and sometimes asking questions, at least [in] my case, made me a better campaigner, and I think a lot of folks are raising some questions,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to beat Donald Trump.”

Updated at 9:56 p.m.