First Democratic lawmaker calls on Joe Biden to withdraw from White House race

A first Democratic congressman called on Tuesday, July 2, for President Joe Biden to withdraw from the race for the White House, citing among other things his catastrophic performance in Thursday’s debate against Donald Trump. “I am hopeful that he will make the difficult and painful decision to step down. I respectfully call on him to do so.”Texan Lloyd Doggett wrote in a statement. “President Biden saved our democracy by delivering us from Trump in 2020. He must not deliver us to Trump in 2024.”he added.

Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi assured on Tuesday that it was ” legitimate “ to question Joe Biden’s health, and “to ask whether it is a simple episode or a state” sustainable. The former Speaker of the House of Representatives, still very influential within her party, praised on MSNBC the « vision » of the democratic leader for the country. “I’m not a doctor. I can’t say what will happen in three or four years, but I think that, based on my experience, and this is what you asked me, he will continue to be a great president of the United States.”she added.

“We have to be honest with ourselves that it wasn’t just a horrible night.”House Representative Mike Quigley, a Democrat from Illinois, also said on CNN on Tuesday.

Declining physical and verbal ease

Calls from Democratic lawmakers urging the president and his entourage to be transparent about the health of the 81-year-old leader have been increasing in recent hours. The White House has for months brushed aside any questions about the physical and mental faculties of the American president, whose physical and verbal ease has declined.

While party heavyweights have publicly supported him so far, since Thursday’s debate, nervousness has been growing among supporters and donors. Some are asking Biden to respond concretely to concerns, by holding more press conferences or engaging in direct discussions with journalists or supporters.

A poll published Tuesday by CNN has enough to further fuel the anxieties of the Democratic camp: 75% of voters questioned believe that the party would have a better chance in November with a candidate other than Joe Biden. Donald Trump is credited with 49% of voting intentions at the national level, against 43% for his rival, a gap unchanged from the last poll of this type, conducted in April. The vice president, Kamala Harris, without winning, would be better placed, at 45% against 47% for the former Republican president.

Other potential Democratic candidates, some of whom are little known to the general public, would face Donald Trump with scores similar to that of the current president, despite their lack of notoriety, for example the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, the secretary of transport, Pete Buttigieg, or the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer.

On Monday, a reporter asked the president out of the blue whether he would withdraw from the race at the end of a short speech he had just delivered at the White House about a Supreme Court decision. Biden turned and left the room without answering.