President Joe Biden is facing calls to end his reelection bid from a growing number of prominent Democrats after his debate performance raised serious questions about the 81-year-old’s mental fitness.
The president and his campaign remain defiant and are pressing ahead, but an avalanche of calls to step aside and let someone such as Vice President Kamala Harris be the Democratic nominee could change that calculus.
Here are the Democrats who have so far said Biden should bow out of the race against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)
On Tuesday, Doggett became the first sitting member of Congress to say Biden should withdraw from the race. The longtime House Democrat praised the president but said he “failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies.”
“Recognizing that unlike Trump, President Biden’s first commitment has always been to our country, not himself, I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw,” Doggett said in a statement. “I respectfully call on him to do so.”
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ)
The ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, Grijalva on Wednesday became the second sitting member of Congress to call for Biden to drop out.
“If he’s the candidate, I’m going to support him, but I think that this is an opportunity to look elsewhere,” he told The New York Times. “What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race.”
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) became the third sitting House Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw, arguing the president should step aside to allow someone else to run against Trump.
“President Biden has done enormous service to our country, but now is the time for him to follow in one of our Founding Father George Washington’s footsteps and step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Trump,” Moulton told Boston-area radio station WBUR Thursday.
Just the day before, Moulton said his party should consider “all viable options” to replace Biden at the top of the ticket.
Former Rep. Tim Ryan
Ryan, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, wrote in a Monday op-ed that Harris should replace Biden as the party’s nominee after a “deeply troubling” debate performance.
“It isn’t just about a 90-minute debate and a terrible performance,” Ryan wrote. “This election needs to be about generational change — something about which I have been shouting for more than a year now.”
Obama HUD Secretary Julián Castro
Castro, who was also a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and has been critical of Biden in the past, said it was time for someone else to take the reins.
“I believe that there are stronger options out there for Democrats,” Castro said Tuesday on MSNBC. “We have a stable of folks who could do a better job, including Vice President [Kamala] Harris. It’s too risky to let Donald Trump walk into this in November.”
Colorado congressional candidate Adam Frisch
Frisch, who nearly unseated Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) in 2022 and is running for the open seat in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, on Tuesday called on Biden to withdraw from the race.
“It has been clear to me for some time, and the debate only reinforced it — neither candidate should be running for president,” Frisch said in a video statement. “We deserve better. President Biden should do what’s best for the country and withdraw from the race. I thank President Biden for his years of service, but the path ahead requires a new generation of leadership to take our country forward.”
Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson
Williamson said Tuesday that Biden should be replaced.
“President Biden deserves our respect, our compassion, and our gratitude,” Williamson said in a video statement. “The debate last week, however, made clear that the time is now for another Democratic candidate to take his place on the November ballot.
“Today, I throw my hat in the ring,” she added.
Former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang
Yang, who left the Democratic Party in 2021 to become an independent, endorsed Biden’s Democratic primary challenger this cycle, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN). Yang was among the first prominent voices after Biden’s debate to say he should drop out.
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“Guys, the Dems should nominate someone else – before it’s too late,” Yang posted in a series of tweets. “#swapJoeout”
