Sorensen: 'Up to political pundits' if Biden drops out of race
NORMAL — Despite questions and concerns raised by President Joe Biden's debate performance last week, U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen declined to call for the Democratic incumbent to step down as the party's nominee.
"I think that's up to the political pundits to decide," said Sorensen, D-Rockford, during a new conference in Normal on Wednesday. "I'm really more focused on the people of this district and getting the work done for the people here."
Throughout the 90-minute debate, Biden struggled to repel a laundry list of falsehoods made by former President Donald Trump and at times sounded incoherent when speaking of his own experience.
The debate only exacerbated what experts and critics have said is the 81-year-old incumbent's biggest hindrance: the belief that he is too old to serve another fours years as president.
"I can tell you that 22 years of working every day on live television ... there were times I didn't have a good day, but it does raise serious questions today," said Sorensen, referring to his experience as a TV meteorologist.
The freshman Democrat, who won the 17th Congressional District by just four percentage points in 2022, is again being targeted for defeat by national Republicans. The party has nominated former Circuit Court Judge Joe McGraw , who criticized Biden's performance on Friday.
"Joe Biden's struggles last night are further proof he is not up for the task of leading this country," McGraw wrote in a social media post. "Meanwhile on policy, all he offered was more of the same."
Sorensen, speaking in Normal, said he did not watch the presidential debate live but did catch up with a later viewing, and it still did not change his mind about his options.
"I had a young person ask me, 'Why didn't that change your mind?' And i said, 'Well, I can either vote for the nice guy or I can vote for the jerk,'" Sorensen said. "I didn't tell him who I was voting for. He already knew."
He recalled an interaction with a constituent while grocery shopping in East Moline about two weeks ago. The woman told him that she was a Trump supporter.
"We had a great conversation about making sure that our troops are supported, making sure that she understands that I support the Farm Bill, that I was one of only four Democrats to vote for the Farm Bill because I believe that we do need bipartisanship," Sorensen said. "This conversation where this woman identified herself as somebody who's going to vote for Donald Trump, in the end she said, 'You know what Congressman, I think I'm gonna vote for you.'
"So there are Donald Trump-Sorensen voters out there," he continued. "It's not my job to persuade her one way way or other, because I didn't come to Congress with a background in politics and I'm not going to play that way."
If not for the debate, Sorensen said, Biden's legitimacy would not be in question. He suggested that the event clouded perception of the country's achievements under Biden's administration: reaching other side of the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping inflationary costs under control and, he hoped, seeing interests rates continue to go down.
"I want those successes to get home here to the people," Sorensen added, "and I'll support the person that's going to do that."
Sorensen also highlighted Biden's performance during an appearance the following day in North Carolina, where he appeared refreshed and renewed on stage.
After another landmark decision made by the U.S. Supreme Court on presidential immunity, making your voice heard and voting has never been more important, he said.
"Think about how important it is to vote, to make your voice count. People have to do that," Sorensen said. "If people don't go and participate in the elections, it's not so much that we're going to lose the presidency; we would lose this congressional seat too, and we have to be sure that we're not making that bad decision if it goes the other way."
