Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) said Monday he is “getting very close” to joining the handful of House Democrats publicly calling on President Biden to withdraw from the race.
In an interview on CNN’s “The Situation Room,” Peters said he wants to hear the Biden campaign recognize members’ concerns as legitimate and articulate a plan to address falling poll numbers “to win this election and change the things, especially in those swing states.” .”
“But it’s been over a week,” Peters continued, “and I still haven’t heard that. So I’m almost saying it’s time to make a change.”
Peters said Biden “won re-election,” pointing to Biden’s achievements in civil rights, infrastructure and the country’s emergence from the pandemic.
“The problem,” he continued, “is that the research is not heading in that direction. We were in trouble before this debate. We wanted a boost. We don’t get a boost. In fact, we had a setback. I think we have to be clear about where we’re going, and we’re not in a good direction.”
In recent days, six House Democrats have said publicly that it is time for Biden to drop out of the race, amid concerns about his position at the top of the ticket. Several others expressed the same sentiment privately.
At the same time, however, many members fiercely defended Biden, praising his record and noting that the American people chose the president to be the Democratic nominee.
Peters acknowledged the time constraints associated with potentially replacing Biden at the top of the list. Asked for a timetable for the party to make a final decision on next steps, Peters said: “I don’t think we’ve let it go beyond this week.”
“We need to make sure this is cleared up this week. And I want to hear from the campaign how they hope to win this, win this campaign in those swing states, where we’ve gone backwards since the debate, when we needed a boost.”
Peters has not explicitly said whether he supports Vice President Harris as Biden’s theoretical replacement.
“We have a deep bench. We have a lot of potential candidates,” Peters said when asked if Harris would be a stronger candidate than Biden.
“As a Californian, I have a preference for vice president, but I think I like the idea of a mini primary like Rep. Clyburn recently suggested,” Peters continued, referring to Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.). Let’s take a look at them all, and again, let’s focus on those six to ten states.”
Peters emphasized the importance of focusing on swing states and noted that many of the party’s leaders are from New York, California or Massachusetts.
“We should really listen to the people in those states, including the governors and senators-elect we have there, about who is best to win those states… and make sure a Democrat stays in the White House,” he said.
Biden and his campaign have maintained that he will not drop out of the race. Biden, in an interview Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” challenged other Democrats to challenge him at this summer’s national convention, emphasizing that he believes he is the best candidate to defeat Trump.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
