Sen. Welch called for Biden to step aside, but says it was still a shock when he did

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Voters across the country are reacting to President Biden's decision to withdraw from the 2024 campaign. Some of them spoke with our colleagues at NPR member stations.

ANN HUNTER: I was hoping he would stay in the race, but this news, unfortunately, hit me by surprise.

AUSTIN CARNES: Probably should have happened sooner - I think that, at this point, it's a little late.

MATT PERRY: I'm very happy about that. He made the right decision. It's time for somebody new.

LEON ROBINSON: I think it's sad for the nation to be this far in to an election cycle and for them to make such a change such late in the game.

NIAL RELE: I feel energized about Harris and the chance that we can only, honestly, go up from here. We can't afford any more mess.

MARTIN: That's Ann Hunter from Pennsylvania, Austin Carnes from Missouri and Matt Perry (ph) from Michigan.

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

We also heard Leon Robinson from Kansas and Nial Rele (ph) from Vermont.

Coming up in a few minutes, how will Biden's decision change the Republican Party's plans for November? We ask political analyst pollster Frank Luntz for his opinion.

MARTIN: But first, Senator Peter Welch of Vermont was the first Democratic Senator to urge the president to drop out. After Biden's abysmal debate performance last month, Welch became a leader in the chorus of others expressing skepticism about the President's ability to campaign to win and serve four more years. And so Senator Welch is with us now to tell us more about his thinking now. Good morning, Senator.

PETER WELCH: Good morning.

MARTIN: Senator, you wrote in the Washington Post that you wanted the president to step aside, quote, "for the good of the country," unquote. What went through your mind yesterday when you heard that he had?

WELCH: Well, I was stunned, you know, as, you know, I thought he should, and I thought he ultimately would 'cause he always made his decision on the best interests of the country. But it was still a shock.

He has been a tremendous president. In fact, I think he'll go down in history as one of our best. And he has an immense amount of affection among colleagues in the Senate with whom he served for decades.

So it was a bittersweet moment. I - he did the right thing for the right reasons, and he's going to give us a chance to keep Trump at bay and continue his legacy. But it was sad but inspiring.

MARTIN: So what do you say to people who claim that you and others bullied the president out of office? I mean, it seems clear that he did want to continue but that, you know, clearly, people within the party felt that wasn't the right decision. What do you say to people who say you all bullied him out?

WELCH: Well, Joe Biden wouldn't be bullied by anybody, whether it's Putin or a member of Congress. That just isn't real. The reality is that every fiber in Joe Biden's being throughout his life has been to fight on, to carry on, to face difficult odds. But every time he's made a tough decision, it's ultimately been what's best for the country.

And I believe that the president really evaluated all of the things that he was hearing from political leaders about what was the best thing to carry on his legacy and strengthen the country. So he made this decision on his own and made his own assessment.

MARTIN: So President Biden has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. Will you?

WELCH: I may. I may get there. She's running the field and doing an incredible job, raising $50 million in a single day. But she said something that I think is really terrific. She said that she has to earn and win this nomination. And I think that reflects an insight about how important it is for our leader to reach out to those 3,900 delegates to make the case about why they are the best and have the benefit of a validation that is reflected with grassroots, bottom-up strength.

MARTIN: What...

WELCH: So I think the vice president has really got a good insight here.

MARTIN: So what does that look like? What does that look like when you've got - what? - three weeks before the convention? What do you think the next three weeks should look like? What should this process look like, as briefly as you can?

WELCH: Well, I think two things. No. 1, the vice president will be out and about and making her case. But No. 2, behind the scenes, I think, in addition to the calls to governors and senators, she's going to be contacting the state delegations. There's going to be a retail element of the politics.

And the two things that I think are really important should be making her pick on vice president, which obviously would be crucial. But what's so crucial about that - and this is going to give her an opportunity, or potentially others who get in - we have an anti-Trump message. We know we don't like Trump. But the challenge for the Democrats in this campaign is to speak to a lot of folks who are skeptical of the Democrats, skeptical of us. So this is an opportunity to include a positive vision of the future, which I think is going to be essential for our success in November.

MARTIN: And before we let you go, what should that message be? I know you're very - you've been extremely complimentary of the president's record, but, you know, as you know, this is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately job. What do you think that message should be?

WELCH: We've got to speak to working people, folks who are trying to buy a house and they can't afford it, to single women who don't - child care for their kids. We've got to show that this is an economy that's going to work for everyone.

MARTIN: That is Democratic Senator Peter Welch of Vermont. Senator Welch, thank you so much for joining us.

WELCH: Thank you very much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.