Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz stands with Biden despite debate performance, urges doubters to stop 'pearl-clutching'

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is standing resolutely by President Joe Biden, even as she acknowledged “it was not a good performance” in last week’s debate with former President Donald Trump.

“President Biden had obviously, arguably a pretty poor performance in the debate,” Wasserman Schultz said Tuesday.

Still, she said, Democrats should be concentrating on campaign efforts, not spending time rehashing what happened during the debate. “I have two hands, and I think we should be using our hands for door knocking and phone calling — not pearl-clutching and hand-wringing,” she said.

And, during an interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, the Broward Democrat dismissed the notion that Biden should drop out in favor of a Democrat who might have a better chance at defeating Trump in November.

“I don’t expect, nor think it’s wise for us to change horses just before the finish line,” Wasserman Schultz said.

Wasserman Schultz is the senior Democrat in the Florida congressional delegation and a former chair of the Democratic National Committee.

“I agree with Vice President (Kamala Harris) and others who have said that you do not chalk up the capability of a president to his performance in 90 minutes, when compared to 3.5 years of the remarkable success that we’ve had.”

Wasserman Schultz rejected the notion that Biden might not be up to the challenge of competing against Trump or serving a full term if reelected in November.

“I’m confident in what I’ve seen. I’ve seen President Biden recently and been able to interact with him recently in person. And I can tell you based on my interactions with President Biden, I’m confident not only that he can take on (but) beat Donald Trump,” she said.

Wasserman said the priority for Democrats in the coming months shouldn’t be agonizing over Biden’s performance. Instead Democrats “need to be able to make sure that we can continue to organize and mobilize across the country to ensure that President Biden can get to 270 electoral votes.”

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