Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, blasted the Democratic party for leading a “coup” against President Joe Biden during an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters.
The interview was taped before news broke Sunday that Biden was withdrawing from the 2024 general election and endorsing his Vice President Kamala Harris as the new presumptive nominee.
Watters asked Trump if he’d investigate “the people that hid Joe Biden’s condition,” to which Trump agreed he would, citing White House doctors who “keep giving him this wonderful report.”
Watters asked if Biden’s bowing out was a “coup against Joe Biden?” Trump responded with “sort of” before Vance gave his own opinion and proposed invoking the 25th amendment. “If Joe Biden can’t run for president, he can’t serve as president.”
Watch:
Read a transcript of the interview below:
TRUMP: Well, I think somebody has to look at it. Look, you had people that lied to the American public. And I tell you what. You ought to take a look at his doctors because his doctors keep giving him this wonderful report. I’m not a doctor, but I saw him the other day, was unable to get up the children stairs going into Air Force One.
WATTERS: Is it a coup against Joe Biden?
TRUMP: Sort of.
VANCE: Yeah, I think it is. I mean, look, there’s a constitutional process, the 25th amendment. If Joe Biden can’t run for president, he can’t serve as president. And if they want to take him down because he’s mentally incapable of serving, invoke the 25th amendment. You don’t get to sort of do this in the most politically beneficial way for Democrats. If it’s an actual problem, they should take care of it the appropriate way.
White House sources reportedly indicated that President Joe Biden’s hesitation to drop his re-election bid stemmed partly from concerns about Vice President Kamala Harris’ ability to defeat former President Donald Trump in an election.
Axios reporter Alex Thompson said that three of Biden’s aides familiar with private talks about his plans relayed to him the president’s concerns about Harris as a viable nominee this November in an article published just one day after Biden announced he was dropping out and endorsed his vice president.
Former President Obama has refrained from endorsing Harris explicitly and remarked in a statement on Sunday: “We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”
