Novelist's Cryptic Post to Democratic Senator Raises Eyebrows

Following a report that Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, is at odds with President Joe Biden's reelection bid, a novelist's cryptic post on Friday about the senator is raising eyebrows on social media.

According to a Friday report by The Washington Post, Warner is attempting to assemble a group of his Democratic colleagues to ask Biden to conclude his presidential run. The Post said it spoke to two people with direct knowledge of Warner's effort as the senator believes that Biden can no longer remain in the race against former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, following his highly criticized debate performance last week.

However, Warner spokeswoman Rachel Cohen would neither confirm nor deny to the newspaper that the senator thinks Biden needs to drop out of the race.

"Like many other people in Washington and across the country, Senator Warner believes these are critical days for the president's campaign, and he has made that clear to the White House, " Cohen said in an issued statement.

Following the report, author Don Winslow took to X, formerly Twitter, on Friday to post a cryptic message addressing Warner.

"Dear @MarkWarner. Are you sure you want to go down this road? You definitely know what I'm talking about. Think about it very carefully," he wrote.

Earlier on Saturday, some users on X began to raise questions about Winslow's post.

X user Keith Ainsworth asked, "What exactly are you saying Don?"

Another user Mr. Grumpy Old Man wrote, "So you have dirt on him?"

While X user @aatamkdaddy asked, "Are you just openly trying to blackmail a United States senator? On behalf of Biden?"

Meanwhile, legal analyst and attorney Jonathan Turley noted Winslow's post as he wrote about it on his website on Saturday as he stated that despite Winslow's intended meaning, the post shows the "depth of the division" regarding Biden.

"As for Winslow's posting, it may just be an incautious, poorly worded message rather than extortion or blackmail. We have all made postings that we regretted...Whatever the intended meaning, the posting shows the depth of the division on the issue," he wrote.

In an emailed statement to Newsweek on Saturday afternoon, Winslow clarified the post was not about Biden, but about Warner's upcoming reelection bid. Warner is up for reelection in 2026 when his current term ends.

"My tweet was specifically referring to Senator Warner's upcoming re-election," Winslow said.

Newsweek has reached out to Warner's office and Biden's campaign via email for comment.

This comes after Biden's debate performance has sparked concerns among some members of the Democratic Party about his ability to serve a second term, with some considering replacing him as their nominee. However, there is no indication of who would be proposed as a candidate and Biden's campaign hasn't signaled he will step down.

While no sitting Democratic senator has publicly called for Biden, 81, to exit the race, several Democrats have addressed Biden's debate performance as they were critical of his campaign strategy to effectively address concerns about his age.

According to the Post, there have been private conversations between Democratic senators about their concerns about the presidential race. In addition, the senators are reportedly worried about maintaining the Senate majority with Biden at the top of the ticket.

Meanwhile, two sitting Democratic House members, Raúl Grijalva of Arizona and Lloyd Doggett of Texas, have called on Biden to step down.

However, Biden has doubled down on his effort to stay in the race as he sat down for an interview with ABC News on Friday and said, "I'm not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out three and a half years of work. I'm staying in the race, and I will beat Donald Trump."

According to recent polling, Biden still has a path to victory in the upcoming presidential election, but he needs three critical swing states—Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—in order to win. However, he's currently trailing Trump, albeit by a slim margin, in those states.

Update 07/6/24, 4:53 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Winslow. The article's headline was also changed to reflect Winslow's comment.