Growing list of Democrats who want Biden to consider withdrawing from presidential race
A letter from some ‘frontline’ House Democrats concerned about Biden’s chances of winning reelection is reportedly circulating asking him to step aside.
Nearly a week after the first debate between the two presumptive presidential candidates in the 2024 race the fallout continues from President Joe Biden’s poor showing. He’s acknowledged it “wasn’t very smart” to go on the debate stage to face off against Donald Trump without having rested after his two back-to-back overseas trips.
While he explained that his almost falling asleep on stage is “no excuse” for his weak performance it’s “an explanation” to calm worries about his mental cognitive state. Regardless, the calls for him to step aside and allow another candidate to take his place as the Democrat Party’s presidential nominee are beginning to have names attached to them.
Growing list of Democrats who want Biden to consider withdrawing from presidential race
On Tuesday, Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first congressional Democrat to call for Biden to drop out of the presidential race citing the president’s failure “to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies.” The congressman said that “too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory” and that the momentum of the campaign could be turned around if Biden were to bow out for a younger candidate.
“While much of [Biden’s] work has been transformational, he pledged to be transitional,” Doggett said in a statement. “[Biden] has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of leaders from whom a nominee can be chosen to unite our country through an open, democratic process.”
He’s not alone in saying out loud publicly his concerns that Biden’s debate performance may have cost him the election. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez of Washington told a local radio station that “the damage has been done by that debate” and she thinks “Biden is going to lose to Trump.”
It is reported that a letter is circulating from so-called ‘frontline’ House Democrats, those who are facing tight races in 2024, that is asking Biden to step aside. A Democratic House member who is not part of that group, numbering around two dozen, and who supports Biden, told CBS that “if there is a lot of people who sign up, I think the dam can break.”
A source in the Biden-Harris campaign said that they were aware of the letter and are working to nip in the bud any momentum that may be building behind it. The campaign has also said that the president will “absolutely not” step aside despite a report in the New York Times based on an anonymous key ally saying that Biden is considering it. That has been refuted and called “absolutely false” by Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman.
President Biden is scheduled to do his first interview this week with George Stephanopoulos. Part of it will air on ABC on Friday evening where it is expected that he will be asked questions regarding the calls for him to transition out of the campaign. A second segment will air on Sunday’s ABC program ‘This Week’.