At least three more House Democrats called on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race Thursday after his first solo news conference in months following the NATO summit.
Even though Biden’s team felt optimistic about his performance, it remained unclear whether he did enough to repair the damage with members of his party who worry he no longer has what it takes to defeat Donald Trump and be effective for another four years.
Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., praised Biden as “a remarkable leader of unparalleled public service” but said it’s time to go.
“The 2024 election will define the future of American democracy, and we must put forth the strongest candidate possible to confront the threat posed by Trump’s promised MAGA authoritarianism,” Himes said in a statement. “I no longer believe that is Joe Biden, and I hope that, as he has throughout a lifetime of public service, he will continue to put our nation first and, as he promised, make way for a new generation of leaders.”
Biden was asked about that promise during Thursday’s news conference and said he needed to “finish” the job he was given, arguing that he hadn’t realized “the gravity of the situation I inherited in terms of the economy, our foreign policy and domestic division” before he entered office.
Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., said in his own post-news conference statement that Biden’s debate performance last month was “not a blip” and that swing state polls have “worsened alarmingly” since then.
“Today I ask President Biden to withdraw from the presidential campaign. The stakes are high, and we are on a losing course. My conscience requires me to speak up and put loyalty to the country and to democracy ahead of my great affection for, and loyalty to, the President and those around him,” Peters said in a statement. “We must find a candidate from our deep bench of talent who can defeat Donald Trump.”
Rep. Eric Sorensen, D-Ill., who is running for re-election in a competitive district in November, said he is “hopeful President Biden will step aside in his campaign for President” and be replaced with “a candidate for President who will communicate a positive vision for every person in this country.”
“In 2020, Joe Biden ran for President with the purpose of putting country over party. Today, I am asking him to do that again,” Sorensen said in a statement.
But despite the new opposition, Biden’s team felt good about his news conference and confident that it could stem the defections and reassure Democratic skeptics.
A source in Biden’s orbit said the news conference should comfort open-minded skeptics who had legitimate questions after the debate about Biden’s ability to battle Trump, offer a second-term vision and lay out his contrasts with Trump on Project 2025, abortion rights, gun safety legislation and a fairer economic system.
Biden world believes he stuck the landing, the source said.
But a Democratic official, who was forbidden from speaking publicly about the political dynamics of Biden’s news conference, said he “did not do anything to reassure Democrats that he understands how dire his political situation is or that he has a realistic plan to win.”
“He seemed most comfortable talking about foreign policy issues like NATO, issues that swing voters in battleground states do not care about — at all,” the Democratic official said. “He also had no message for the future. The case he presented for re-election was all about achievements from two years ago.”
With the presidential nominating conventions approaching, a Democratic leadership aide said time is running out to sustain the intraparty fighting.
“The week after next when [lawmakers] are back is the final make-or-break moment,” the source said. “If Biden stays in at that point, we have to rally around him.”
