More top Democrats are vehemently shifting away from President Joe Biden after a disastrous debate performance last month revealed key issues with the chief executive’s age.
The number of lawmakers who believed that Biden should throw in the towel in the 2024 race outweighed the amount backing his decision to stay in during a Democratic leadership call on Sunday afternoon. At least four more prominent Democratic representatives joined a growing chorus urging Biden to step out, reported NBC News. Those lawmakers included New York Representatives Jerry Nadler and Joe Morelle, California Representative Mark Takano, and Washington Representative Adam Smith. All four men serve as the ranking members on powerful House committees.
But even lawmakers who didn’t outright agree that the former president’s place on the November ballot was compromised thoroughly questioned his ability to retake the White House for a second term. Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin, Virginia Representative Don Beyer, and Connecticut Representative Jim Himes expressed concerns that Biden was not the strongest candidate the party could put forward.
Most lawmakers on the call believed that Vice President Kamala Harris would be a stronger option at the top of the ticket, calling her the obvious choice to replace Biden should he leave the race.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries held the hour-long call with the Democratic brass but did not weigh in with his opinion on the movement to oust Biden, according to CNN.
Last week, Representatives Lloyd Doggett, Raúl Grijalva, and Seth Moulton formally called on the president to exit the race. But many more have signaled their preference in subtler ways, including legacy politicians such as Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the latter of whom suggested that growing concern over both candidates’ ages was a “legitimate question.”
Panic over Biden’s age and ability has consumed the Democratic Party since the president’s abysmal debate performance last week, during which he appeared dumbfounded and frail through the majority of his first 2024 match-up against Donald Trump. Since the face-off, droves of private sector leaders, donors, and consultants have urged Biden to call it quits, looking for spontaneous alternatives to a candidate that they openly describe as “comatose” and “dead.”
