More Democrats are calling on President Joe Biden to drop out, including Sen. Martin Heinrich and several House Democrats on Friday alone.
Reps. Jared Huffman, Marc Veasey, Chuy Garcia and Mark Pocan released a joint statement calling for Biden to withdraw on Friday morning, not long after the president’s campaign manager doubled down on his candidacy. They said it is time for him to “pass the torch to a new generation of Democratic leaders.”
“At this point, however, we must face the reality that widespread public concerns about your age and fitness are jeopardizing what should be a winning campaign,” read the four Democrats’ statement. “These perceptions may not be fair, but they have hardened in the aftermath of last month’s debate and are now unlikely to change.”
Huffman, Veasey, Garcia and Pocan have ties to several important caucuses. Veasey is the first member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Biden’s strongest line of support, to explicitly call for Biden to step down. Pocan is the former co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Garcia is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. And Huffman is a member of the Progressive Caucus who helped organize an attempt earlier this week to delay the DNC’s virtual roll count.
They said that Biden could continue serving in the White House but argued it was the “responsible and patriotic thing” for him to drop out and that “passing the torch would fundamentally change the trajectory of the campaign” to Democrats’ benefit. They specifically singled out Vice President Kamala Harris as part of the party’s “deep and talented bench of younger leaders.”
Heinrich said in a statement not long after that he believes “it is in the best interests of our country for [Biden] to step aside.”
“By passing the torch, he would secure his legacy as one of our nation’s greatest leaders and allow us to unite behind a candidate who can best defeat Donald Trump and safeguard the future of our democracy,” the senator said.
Within hours, Reps. Zoe Lofgren, Greg Landsman, Betty McCollum, Kathy Castor, Morgan McGarvey and Gabe Vasquez each said Biden should leave in the race.
“Simply put, your candidacy is on a trajectory to lose the White House and potentially impact crucial House and Senate races,” Lofgren, an ally of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, wrote in a letter to Biden.
Pressure on Biden is only mounting as Hill Democrats return to Congress next week, and more members are likely to call for the president to step down. And a “Pass the Torch, Joe” group made up of Democratic activists, organizers and voters, will air an ad next Monday in Washington, D.C., and Rehoboth, Delaware, calling for Biden to drop out of the race.
But Biden-Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Friday morning and said there are “multiple pathways” to victory for Biden.
“He is in this race to win, and he is our nominee, and he’s going to be our president for a second term,” she said in her TV appearance.
Additionally, BOLD PAC — the campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus — issued a full-throated endorsement of the president despite a call last week between him and the caucus, leaving members increasingly feeling that their ideal inevitable destination is one without Biden as their party leader.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries repeated his support for Biden during a radio interview with WNYC on Friday morning. He met with Biden in the White House on Thursday, where he expressed concerns from Democratic members that Biden at the top of the ticket could jeopardize a House majority, ABC News reported.
Although he backed Biden during the interview, he did not give a direct answer when asked if the president is the party’s best shot at beating Trump.
“I’ve made clear that President Joe Biden, Vice President Harris, the Biden-Harris ticket, along with Democrats in the House and the Senate, have an incredible track record of support throughout the country based on what we’ve been able to accomplish to date,” Jeffries said.
“We, of course, have to continue to articulate a compelling vision for the future designed to make life better for everyday Americans, and we need to articulate that in the boldest manner possible,” he continued.
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Tinashe Chingarande is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow. NOTUS’ Riley Rogerson and Katherine Swartz contributed reporting.