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full screen Mike Levin, R-Calif., is the latest House member to call on Biden to step aside. 24 former active Democrats do the same in an open letter. Archive image. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP/TT
24 former Democratic members of the US Congress call on Joe Biden to step aside in a letter.
At the same time, almost 20 active politicians within the party have now done the same.
Two dozen former politically active Democrats, one of whom is a former senator and several with long experience, now want to see a presidential candidate other than Joe Biden in the November election.
In a joint letter that Politico has seen, they emphasize that they do not doubt Biden’s “extraordinary track record” – but also warn that the Democrats are likely to lose in the fall presidential election with Biden as a candidate.
Want to see other candidates
In the letter, they write that Biden “would best serve the country he loves” by allowing the conventioneers who pledged to vote for him at the Democratic convention — which would in turn make him the party’s official nominee — to vote for others instead.
“We are sure that one or more competent democratic candidates would step forward. Zeal and optimism would follow,” the 24 former members write in the letter.
The letter is the latest in a series of events that have increased the pressure on Biden, since his disastrous performance in a televised debate against Donald Trump. Critical voices question whether the 81-year-old president has the capacity to last four more years in the White House.
“Pass the torch on”
Since this week’s NATO summit and subsequent press conference, where Biden made some notable blunders, five of the Democrats’ members in the House of Representatives have called on Biden to step aside.
“It’s time for President Biden to pass the torch,” Mike Levin, R-Calif., said in a statement.
In total, 19 of the Democrats’ 213 members in the House of Representatives have now directed that call to Biden.