U.S. Rep. Jason Crow’s tense exchange with President Joe Biden during a weekend call with Democratic lawmakers has attracted attention this week as Biden resists calls to drop out of the presidential race.
Media reports Tuesday and Wednesday confirmed details of the dialog, which included the president at one point invoking his deceased son’s Bronze Star in a comment to Crow, a veteran who also has been awarded the same medal. The call occurred before the Colorado congressman on Sunday warned publicly of a “high risk” the president would lose the upcoming election.
Crow, an Aurora Democrat, was part of the Saturday Zoom call with Biden and fellow moderate Democrats when the argument happened, according to the online news outlet Puck, which described Biden as “chastising” Crow in a recording of the video call. It took place about an hour before a gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, an event that has dominated the news since then.
In the Zoom call, Crow, a former Army Ranger who won a Bronze Star for actions during combat in the Iraq War, asked Biden about voters’ national security concerns.
Biden called him “dead wrong on national security” and cited accomplishments that included bolstering alliances in the Pacific and the European defense compact NATO.
“Name me a foreign leader who thinks I’m not the most effective leader in the world on foreign policy,” Biden told Crow, according to Puck’s report. “Tell me! Tell me who the hell that is! Tell me who put NATO back together! Tell me who enlarged NATO, tell me who did the Pacific basin!
“Tell me who did something that you’ve never done with your Bronze Star like my son — and I’m proud of your leadership, but guess what, what’s happening, we’ve got Korea and Japan working together, I put (the trilateral Pacific security pact) AUKUS together, anyway! … Things are in chaos, and I’m bringing some order to it. And again, find me a world leader who’s an ally of ours who doesn’t think I’m the most respected person they’ve ever –”
Crow interjected: “It’s not breaking through, Mr. President,” he said, “to our voters.”
Biden’s eldest son, Beau Biden, also served in the Army and won a Bronze Star during the Iraq War. He died in 2016 of brain cancer, which the president has attributed to his time in the service.
That Saturday exchange ended with Biden telling those on the call he needed to leave for Mass.
Crow’s office declined to comment on the report, which is the latest to reveal internal strife among Democrats in the weeks since Biden performed poorly in a June 27 debate with Trump.
On Sunday, Crow joined a growing number of Democrats who have publicly raised the alarm about Biden’s reelection prospects, though he did not explicitly call for Biden to withdraw from the race. Speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Crow said he had a “robust call” with Biden but pushed back on the idea it was a sign of disunity in the party.
Crow called Biden “one of the most effective national security and foreign policy presidents in generations” and said he’s been one of Biden’s “fiercest advocates.” But that message is not breaking through to voters, Crow said.
“I do believe right now, if — unless there’s a major change — that there is a high risk that we lose this election,” Crow said.
“In reading the tea leaves, it’s very troubling for many of us right now,” he said, after citing other moderate colleagues who won tough races in 2018. “So, we want to see a change. And that’s what the questions that we’re asking are about.”
Fellow Colorado U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen on Friday called on Biden to “please pass the torch” and end his reelection campaign. U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, like Crow, has suggested Biden is likely to lose the election.
But U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, the state’s longest-serving member of Congress, has staunchly defended Biden.
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