On Tuesday, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), the longtime Democrat representing Austin, called for President Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race following his disastrous debate performance on Thursday evening. Doggett's statement makes him the first congressional Democrat to demand Biden step down from the top of the ticket.
"[F]or more than a year, many Americans have indicated dissatisfaction with their choices in this election. President Biden has continued to run substantially behind Democratic senators in key states and in most polls has trailed Donald Trump," the nearly three-decade congressional veteran wrote. "I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not. Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump's many lies."
"Our overriding consideration must be who has the best hope of saving our democracy from an authoritarian takeover by a criminal and his gang," the Democrat representative stated. "President Biden saved our democracy by delivering us from Trump in 2020. He must not deliver us to Trump in 2024."
"I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson," Doggett added. "Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw. President Biden should do the same."
Doggett's remarks come after former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) questioned whether Biden's debate performance last week was a fluke or a sign of an actual "condition" that would plague him for the rest of his presidency and on the campaign trail. "We have all of these things that he was masterful in helping to orchestrate, to write, and to pass. So he has vision, he has knowledge, he has judgement, he has strategic thinking and the rest. He had a bad night," Pelosi said. "Now, again, I think it is a legitimate question to say, 'Is this an episode or is it a condition?'"
"It's going to be up to Joe Biden to do what he thinks," the former speaker explained. "I'm not a doctor, I can't say what happens four years down the road, in my experience he will continue to be a great president of the United States." The California representative then explained that the 81-year-old president needs to sit down for interviews with journalists to prove to the American people that he is capable enough to lead the country for another four years.
With Pelosi, Doggett, and other high-ranking Democrats either questioning Biden's fitness for re-election or calling for him to withdraw from the race, the likelihood of Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the Democratic nominee has increased substantially.
Read Doggett's full statement below:
https://twitter.com/matthewichoi/status/1808179938538791135
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