Five more House Democrats are calling on President Biden to step aside from the 2024 race, increasing pressure on the incumbent as concerns grow in the party about his ability to defeat former President Trump in November.
Representatives Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Marc Veasey (D-Texas), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) issued a joint statement Friday morning, writing that while they have “great admiration” for Biden, public concerns about his age and fitness for office are threatening his chances of winning the election, focusing on his disastrous debate performance last month.
“Mr. President, with great admiration for you personally, sincere respect for your decades of public service and patriotic leadership, and deep appreciation for all we have accomplished together during your presidency, the time has come to pass the torch to a new generation of Democrats. leaders”, wrote the quartet.
“Right now, however, we must face the reality that widespread public concerns about their age and physical condition are putting what should be a winning campaign at risk,” they added. “These perceptions may not be fair, but they have hardened following last month’s debate and are now unlikely to change.”
The lawmakers continued, writing that “We believe the most responsible and patriotic thing you can do at this time is to stop being our candidate and continue to lead our party from the White House.”
Shortly thereafter, Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), a front-line man, said Biden should withdraw from the ticket.
“It is time for President Biden to step aside and allow us to nominate a new leader who can credibly and consistently defend the case against Donald Trump and defend the future of America,” he said.
The joint statement from Huffman, Veasey, García and Pocan marks a notable increase in the pressure Biden faces as more and more lawmakers in his party publicly urge him to withdraw from the race.
Veasey is the first member of the Congressional Black Caucus to call on Biden to step aside, opening a rift in what has been the president’s strongest bloc of support on Capitol Hill.
The other three lawmakers — Huffman, García and Pocan — are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a prominent group that has also shown strong support for Biden so far. And García is also part of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, whose political arm supported the president’s re-election bid on Friday.
Talk about Biden’s viability at the top of the ticket has increased after last month’s poor debate performance, during which the president sometimes stumbled over his words and appeared to lose his train of thought.
Since then, Biden and his team have challenged that he will not drop out of the race, with campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon telling MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Friday that “absolutely, the president is in this race ”.
Sources told The Hill that well-connected members of the Democratic Party expect Biden to make an announcement about his future in the coming days. The president is currently recovering from COVID-19 in Delaware.
Huffman, Veasey, García and Pocan said Friday that they see Vice President Harris as the leader of the “deep and talented bench” to whom Biden could pass the torch.
“Democrats have a deep and talented bench of younger leaders, led by Vice President Kamala Harris, who you have raised, empowered and prepared for this moment,” they wrote. “Passing the torch would fundamentally change the trajectory of the campaign.”
“This would reinvigorate the race and give enthusiasm and momentum to Democrats ahead of our convention next month,” they continued. “Mr. President, you have always put our country and our values first. We call on you to do so once again, so that we can come together and save the country we love.”
Updated at 1 p.m. ET.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
