Democratic delegates expressed alarm over president Joe Biden's debate performance in private social media conversations that raised doubts about the viability of his candidacy.
Politico obtained a cache of messages between California delegates from invite-only discussions held on Facebook and elsewhere showing heated exchanges about Biden's appearance at last month's first presidential debate, and DNC delegate Susan Bolle told participants that she'd heard from more than 150 local voters in the days afterward asking her to call for the president to step aside.
“Obviously, the first step would be that President Biden steps down of his own accord and frees his delegates,” Bolle said in an invite-inly chat on the Facebook group for convention delegates called the 2024 California DNC Delegate Group. “We should discuss this. This is a painful experience on every level, but we play an outsized role in history this election. This cannot be left to chance.”
Biden has so far resisted calls to step aside, but the California delegates seemed to coalesce behind vice president Kamala Harris if he does decide to leave the race.
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“Kamala isn’t the strongest overall but logistically it’d be the cleanest,” wrote Nico Brancolini, a vice president of the Stonewall Democratic Club. “But imagine the fury if a sitting vice president who is a black woman were passed over for any of the other candidates."
Other delegates suggested governors Gavin Newsom of California, JB Pritzker of Illinois or Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, but emotions were clearly raw as they discussed the possibility of the president stepping aside.
“I’m in tears,” wrote Stonewall president Renay Grace Rodriguez, as the debate was still unfolding.
Rodriguez said Wednesday that she made the comment as the Biden-Trump debate was still unfolding.
“What I was in tears about was Biden’s poor performance,” Rodriguez explained later, saying she would not support replacing Biden unless he decided to step down.
Organizers of the Facebook channel eventually banned discussions about replacing Biden because most participants were already pledged to the president, but that decision didn't sit well with the DNC delegates in the discussion.
“I also thought it was the other party that demanded allegiance to their dear leader,” wrote DNC delegate Tom McInerney. “I was a delegate elected just like … all you and will fulfill my obligations consistent with the DNC rules, and I’m disappointed you would censor opinions that don’t match yours regarding the future of our party and country.”
