More and more Democrats on Capitol Hill are publicly criticizing Biden and calling for him to pull his presidential bid for the 2024 election. This comes after his first TV interview with ABC News following his poor debate performance a week prior.
Unnamed lawmakers said other House Democrats would move to call on Biden to end his run soon, according to a report Saturday by Axios.
“The drip drip is about to be more than that,” one anonymous lawmaker told the news outlet. A second lawmaker said, “We’ll certainly amp up the public pressure as needed.”
“No one’s mind has been changed,” an anonymous House Democrat told the report, and an increasing number of lawmakers agree “it’s time'” for Biden to step aside.
Another House Democrat commented on Biden’s interview with ABC News saying, “Not impressive.” This unnamed lawmaker also predicted that Biden is “toast” in November if he stays in the race against former President Donald Trump.
Biden stated in his interview with ABC News Anchor George Stephanopoulos that the only way he would abandon a run for re-election was if “the Lord Almighty comes down and tells” him to go.
Though some members of Congress have come to Biden’s defense, as of Saturday four House Democrats had publicly called on him not to run. Those lawmakers were Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Seth Moulton(D-MA), and Mike Quigley (D-IL).
In an on-the-record statement released Saturday, one of the individuals that joined them was Representative Angie Craig (D-MN).
“Given what I saw and heard from the President during last week’s debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the President himself following that debate, I do not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump,” she said.
Craig underscored the urgency of a potential reelection of Trump and civilly asked Biden to “step aside as the Democratic nominee for a second term as President and allow for a new generation of leaders to step forward.”
