By Servet Gunerigok
WASHINGTON (AA) – Sen. Jon Tester of Montana on Thursday became the second Senate Democrat to call on President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race.
In a statement, Tester said he has "worked with President Biden when it has made Montana stronger, and I’ve never been afraid to stand up to him when he is wrong."
"While I appreciate his commitment to public service and our country, I believe President Biden should not seek re-election to another term," he said.
On July 10, Peter Welch was the first Democratic senator to call for Biden to withdraw from the race for the White House.
“I understand why President Biden wants to run. He saved us from Donald Trump once and wants to do it again. But he needs to reassess whether he is the best candidate to do so. In my view, he is not,” he said.
Concerns about the president's viability as a candidate rapidly escalated after he badly faltered during a debate against now Republican nominee Donald Trump in June, raising further questions about the viability of re-electing a candidate who would be 86 years old at the end of a second term.
Most polls show Biden now trailing significantly behind Trump in key battleground states with just four months until Election Day.
Earlier in the day, the Axios news website reported that Biden could announce his decision to end his re-election campaign as soon as this weekend.
The website based its reporting on comments from several top Democrats who said privately that rising intra-party pressures, including from leadership and close friends, "will persuade" him to step aside.
Biden, who is currently self-isolating following another COVID diagnosis, has not indicated publicly that he will heed the calls to end his campaign, despite senior Democratic donors and lawmakers adding their voices to the rising chorus demanding he step aside.