It appears more Democrats are turning on President Joe Biden after the Justice Department discovered additional classified documents at his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
An increasing number of Biden allies are criticizing the administration's management of a documents scandal they see as being different than a similar controversy involving former President Donald Trump.
"The drip, drip, drip of new documents is problematic for Biden and is becoming slightly more than an annoyance for Democrats," Christopher Hahn, and attorney and former aide to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told the Washington Examiner.
"It's hard to explain to the public that Biden and Trump should be viewed differently. In politics, if you're explaining, you're losing, and it's clear congressional Democrats have opted not to explain."
Lawmakers have expressed similar sentiments.
"I'm very concerned," said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., an incumbent potentially facing a difficult reelection next year in a reliably GOP states in presidential elections, The Hill reported. "We have to get to the bottom of it to find out what the hell happened, why it happened."
Democrats' growing annoyance with Biden comes as he prepares to announce his intention to seek reelection in 2024.
Hahn, who hosts "The Aggressive Podcast," added that "while this isn't an electoral issue at the moment, should this continue into the spring, it could well be."
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on Sunday criticized Biden, characterizing the commander-in-chief's alleged mishandling of classified documents as "unacceptable."
"Let's be honest about it," Durbin told CNN. "When that information is found, it diminishes the stature of any person who is in possession of it, because it's not supposed to happen. Whether it was the fault of a staffer or attorney, it makes no difference. The elected official bears ultimate responsibility."
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who is up for reelection next year, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that Biden "he should have a lot of regrets."
"To be held accountable and responsible is what we all are," Manchin said. "And to put those in unsecured spaces is irresponsible.
"It's just hard to believe that in the United States of America, we have a former president and a current president that are basically in the same situation. How does this happen?"
Manchin added that he recalled being asked if he was "clean" of secure documents upon leaving a sensitive compartmented information facility.
Politico reported that Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said: "I don't think … any classified document should be at somebody's house."
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., recently endorsed an intelligence risk assessment related to Biden's classified documents controversy, similar to the one he sought for Trump's materials.
Retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., told NBC that's Biden situation is "certainly embarrassing."
The Examiner reported that many Democrat strategists decline to discuss Biden's classified documents controversy, "a tacit acknowledgment of its political consequences before next year's elections and its neutralization of their scrutiny of Trump."
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