Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) became the first sitting House Democrat to call on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race , citing the president’s debate performance against former President Donald Trump last week as a primary reason.
In a lengthy statement released on Tuesday, the longtime House Democrat commended Biden for his time in office over the last four years, arguing the incumbent helped to rebuild the country after the COVID-19 pandemic and the “years of Trump wreckage.” However, the Texas Democrat lamented Biden’s trailing polling numbers against Trump and said while he hoped the debate would "provide some momentum to change that," it did not.
"The president failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump's many lies," Doggett said in a statement. "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. I respectfully call on him to do so."
The call comes in stark contrast to many of Doggett’s colleagues in the House who have refrained from calling on Biden to step down from the presidential ticket despite acknowledging a poor debate performance. However, some Democrats have openly begun to debate an alternative path forward.
Former Rep. Tim Ryan came out on Tuesday to call on Vice President Kamala Harris to replace Biden as the party’s 2024 nominee, calling the president’s debate performance “deeply troubling” and evidence the party must move forward.
Ryan argued that much of Biden’s campaign platform in 2020 was to be a “bridge president” to oust Trump, but “that bridge collapsed last week” with Biden’s debate performance, making it imperative to tap a new candidate who is better fit to face Trump in November.
“It isn’t just about a 90-minute debate and a terrible performance,” Ryan wrote in an op-ed for Newsweek. “This election needs to be about generational change — something about which I have been shouting for more than a year now.”
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) noted that Biden’s debate “wasn’t just a horrible night” for the president, and Biden must “be honest with himself” as he considers his place on the ballot in 2024.
“I won’t go beyond that, out of my respect and understanding of President Joe Biden, the very proud person who has served us extraordinarily well for 50 years,” Quigley told CNN . “I just want him to appreciate at this time just how much it impacts not just his race but all the other races coming in November.”
Many Democratic lawmakers were quick to come to Biden’s defense in the aftermath of the debate, contrasting his performance with the “lies” of the former president even as they admitted his stumbles were a setback. Even so, top party leaders generally resisted the call from some Democratic operatives for Biden to step down so another candidate could take his place at the top of the ticket.
And while Biden’s allies on Capitol Hill admitted it was a worse-than-expected performance, they argued the president still has four months to make his case.
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The White House has remained confident in Biden’s abilities to serve a second term, brushing off suggestions that the president should step down or back out of the race. In a campaign speech after the debate, Biden acknowledged that although he is no longer a “young man,” he can hold a second term.
“Folks, I would not be running again if I did not believe with all of my heart and soul that I can do this job,” he told supporters in New York last week.
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