Another dozen congressional Democrats have urged US President Joe Biden to end his re-election campaign to allow a younger leader to challenge former President Donald Trump in the November election.
This group brings the number of members of Congress calling for Biden’s removal to 35, representing more than 13% of the House and Senate members who make up the Democratic caucus. Of the 35 leading the revolt, 32 are legislators and 3 are senators.
Illinois’ Sean Casten was the first to call for Biden’s withdrawal on Friday. In an opinion column in the Chicago Tribune titled It’s time to pass the baton, He said he had to declare that the president was no longer fit for office, although he said it broke his heart to say so.
In a joint statement, four other Democrats later urged the president to transfer responsibility to a new generation of Democratic leaders.”
While they express great admiration for Biden, they argue that the reality of public concern about his age and fitness to govern for another four years and beat Donald Trump in November must be faced.
“We believe the most responsible and patriotic thing for him to do at this time is to withdraw as our nominee while continuing to lead our party from the White House,” they said in the statement.
Who is calling for Joe Biden to drop out?
Among the lawmakers signing the statement is Representative Marc Veasey of Texas, the first member of the Black Caucus to turn his back on Biden, opening a rift in the president’s most solid bloc of support in Congress.
The letter was also signed by Jesús “Chuy” García, born in Durango, Mexico, and a member of the Hispanic caucus, as well as Marc Pocan, from Wisconsin, and Jared Huffman, from California, an ally of the influential Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico also urged Biden to “pass the baton” to allow the party to unite around a candidate capable of beating Trump, becoming the third member of the Senate to call for the president to withdraw.
She was joined by Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, a Pelosi ally, who made public a letter sent to Biden on Thursday night, warning that the United States would pay a “terrible price” if he did not end his campaign.
Florida Rep. Kathy Castor urged Biden to “pass the baton” in remarks to local television WFLA, while Ohio Democrat Greg Landsman said on Social Media X that “there is too much at stake” in the election for Biden to continue as the Democratic nominee.
Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota joined the chorus calling for Biden to end his campaign, but went a step further by voicing support for Vice President Kamala Harris to run for president and suggesting her running mate could be Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
As reported on Thursday The Washington Post, Former President Barack Obama told his inner circle that Biden should “seriously reconsider” the future of his candidacy.
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