Ohio Democratic Rep. Landsman: 'Time is running out' for Biden to make his case

U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman Monday declined to say whether President Joe Biden should stay in the race.

At a press conference on a student housing bill at the University of Cincinnati on Monday, the Democrat from the Mount Washington neighborhood of Cincinnati said in response to questions that Biden must make the case to the American public that his Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, is unfit for office. In a press release after the press conference, Landsman said "time is running out."

"The debate will last another week or two maybe longer, but I don't think much longer," Landsman told reporters on Monday. "Because the stakes of the election are so high. The other guy running, the former President Donald Trump, is unfit to be president of the United States. He tried to overturn an election. That alone is disqualifying."

Landsman: Kamala Harris 'can make that case'

If Biden can't make the case, maybe Vice President Kamala Harris can make the case, Landsman said on Monday.

"I do believe that the vice president, as a former prosecutor and somebody who's been leading on the need to restore reproductive freedom in the United States, can make that case," Landsman said.

Landsman is a freshman Democrat running in a competitive district that represents the Democrat stronghold of Cincinnati, parts of suburban Hamilton County, and the Republican bastion of Warren County to the north.

'I am not a doctor.'

He said he isn't suggesting Biden should step aside.

"At the moment, I'm not saying that he should do anything other than go out there and make that case as clearly as and compellingly as humanly possible," Landsman said.

He also wouldn't comment on the president's mental state, saying "I am not a doctor."

"I don't know," Landsman said. "I mean, look. Is Trump in cognitive decline?" Landsman said. "Obviously, Biden's debate performance was problematic, mostly because I think he couldn't make the case or missed the opportunities."

As of now, it appears Biden has no intention of dropping out of the race. He wrote to congressional Democrats he will continue his push for a second term.

The 81-year-old president, the oldest in U.S. history, also called into MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' to push back on the growing calls to step aside.

"I've got a pretty good political instinct and here's the deal, it's not going to happen here," Biden said. "This time around, the American public is not going to move away from me as the average voter."

USA Today reporter Kathryn Palmer contributed.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Here's what Landsman said about Biden's candidacy and mental state