Joe Biden Could Be Asked to Resign by 25 House Democrats

Dozens of House Democrats are reportedly considering publicly demanding that President Joe Biden drop out of the 2024 presidential race.

Biden’s controversial debate with former President Donald Trump last week has sparked a wave of criticism and speculation about whether he will be able to replace him as the Democratic nominee before November.

Only one Democratic member of the House of Representatives — Lloyd Doggett of Texas — has publicly suggested that Biden should concede as of Tuesday while the president continues to campaign, and he has given no indication he intends to drop out of the race.

However, according to a Reuters report, based on comments from an anonymous Democratic aide in the House of Representatives, at least 25 members of the U.S. House of Representatives are on Tuesday “preparing to call on Biden to resign” if he “appears to be unstable in the coming days.”

The aide reportedly suggested that “a lot depended” on Biden’s performance in a scheduled ABC interview this week, and House Democrats would be watching closely to see if the president “can handle rapid-fire questions, not just scheduled campaign appearances.”

Another aide told Reuters that Democratic representatives from competitive congressional districts were concerned about the flood of questions about Biden’s fitness from voters, saying it “feels like a dam has burst.”

Newsweek reached out to the Biden campaign and the White House for comment via email Tuesday evening.

Doggett said in a statement Tuesday that Biden should drop out of the race to avoid a “long, dark era of authoritarianism” under Trump.

Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine also wrote in an opinion piece Tuesday that it was “clear” Trump would win the election if Biden were the Democratic nominee, a scenario he said was “acceptable” to him.

Other sitting Democratic lawmakers, including California Rep. Nancy Pelosi — a former House speaker — questioned Biden’s fitness to serve after the debate but stopped short of calling on him to leave the party.

Pelosi said Tuesday during an interview with MSNBC that it was a “legitimate” question to ask whether the president’s performance in the debate was indicative of an “episode” or a “condition.”

Former Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan called on Biden to resign and Vice President Kamala Harris to run for president in 2024, while describing the president’s debate performance as “deeply disturbing” and “heartbreaking” in a statement. Newsweek opinion article.

Former Obama Housing Secretary Julian Castro told MSNBC on Tuesday that “another Democrat would have a better chance of beating Trump” and that “Democrats would do well to find another candidate.”

Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are among those mentioned as potential successors to Biden if he steps down, although they all expressed support for his reelection after the debate.

Newsom, Whitmer and other Democratic governors were expected to join the president for virtual and in-person meetings at the White House on Wednesday to discuss concerns raised by his debate performance.

Biden blamed his poor performance on not “listening” to his staff and instead opting to “travel around the world a few times” before the debate, telling supporters at a fundraiser in Virginia on Tuesday that he “almost fell asleep on stage.”