NOTE: This story was updated on July 19 to reflect additional members of Congress calling for President Joe Biden to drop out.
Over the last three weeks, numerous congressional Democrats have urged President Joe Biden to drop out of the upcoming presidential race amid concerns over his age and mental acuity.
Some of these Democrats have done so in public fashion, such as op-eds or social media posts. Others have reportedly done so privately.
Biden has repeatedly said he is staying in the race.
As of Friday, July 19, there have been 30 congressional Democrats, including three members of the Senate, who have publicly urged President Biden to exit the race.
It seems his highly anticipated news conference at the NATO conference in Washington on Thursday, July 11, did little to ease anxious members of his party. Following the news conference, five House Democrats said Biden should drop out of the 2024 race.
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As of July 19, these are the Democrats who have confirmed they would support a new Democratic nominee:
- Rep. Lloyd Doggett
- Rep. Raúl Grijalva
- Rep. Seth Moulton
- Rep. Mike Quigley
- Rep. Angie Craig
- Rep. Adam Smith
- Sen. Peter Welch
- Rep. Mikie Sherill
- Rep. Pat Ryan
- Rep. Earl Blumenauer
- Rep. Hillary Scholten
- Rep. Brad Schneider
- Rep. Ed Case
- Rep. Greg Stanton
- Rep. Jim Himes
- Rep. Scott Peters
- Rep. Eric Sorensen
- Rep. Brittany Pettersen
- Rep. Mike Levin
- Rep. Adam Schiff
- Rep. Jim Costa
- Sen. Jon Tester
- Rep. Sean Casten
- Rep. Mark Pocan
- Rep. Jared Huffman
- Rep. Marc Veasey
- Rep. Chuy Garcia
- Sen. Martin Heinrich
- Rep. Zoe Lofgren
- Rep. Greg Landsman
Additionally, Rep. Mark Takano has told colleagues he believes President Biden should step off the ticket, Scripps News has confirmed.
What are they saying?
Many of the aforementioned Democrats have complimented President Biden's time in office, noting legislative achievements. However, these Democrats say that the president's debate performance last month showed that he is past his prime.
Doggett was the first Democrat to suggest President Biden should drop out.
“I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson. Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw," Doggett said. "President Biden should do the same. While much of his work has been transformational, he pledged to be transitional. He has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of leaders from whom a nominee can be chosen to unite our country through an open, democratic process."
The last time a sitting president eligible for reelection opted out of the race was President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. Democrats ended up nominating Hubert Humphrey that year, who lost to Richard Nixon.
Many offering tepid support for Biden
The 30 aforementioned Democrats represent a fraction of the Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill. For the most part, congressional Democrats have offered their support for President Biden in public, although that support has not been full-throated.
For instance, last week, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told MSNBC she is supportive of President Biden as long as he remains in the race.
"As long as the president – it's up to the president to decide if he is going to run," she said. We are all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short."
Pelosi, who has continued serving in the House after stepping down as speaker and caucus leader, addressed whether Biden has the support of most Democrats.
"I think the overwhelming support of the caucus, it's not for me to say as I am not the head of the caucus anymore. But he's beloved, he's respected and people want him to make that decision," Pelosi said. "I want him to do whatever he decides to do and that's the way it is. Whatever way he decides, we go with."
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he met with President Biden on Thursday, sharing the concerns from members of his caucus.
"On behalf of the House Democratic Caucus, I requested and was graciously granted a private meeting with President Joe Biden. That meeting occurred yesterday evening. In my conversation with President Biden, I directly expressed the full breadth of insight, heartfelt perspectives and conclusions about the path forward that the Caucus has shared in our recent time together," Jeffries said in a letter to colleagues.
Why it's up to Biden
It's a numbers and rules game at this point. President Biden compiled the overwhelming majority of pledged delegates during the Democratic primaries as candidates such as Rep. Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson could only muster token opposition.
With nearly all of the delegates headed to Chicago for next month's Democratic National Convention tied to President Biden, his renomination is nearly assured unless he were to drop out of the race.
Scripps News congressional correspondent Nathaniel Reed and Scripps News producer Sam Lisker contributed to this report.
