Democrat Dam on Verge of Breaking After Doggett Calls for Biden to Withdraw

Vice President Joe Biden puts his head into his hand as he recalls a funny story about the
AP Photo/Stephan Savoia
Kristina Wong

The dam appears on the verge of breaking for Democrats calling on President Joe Biden to withdraw as the 2024 Democrat presidential nominee after his disastrous debate performance.

In the days immediately after the debate, down-ballot Democrats tiptoed around whether they still supported Biden, but on Tuesday, Texas’s Rep. Lloyd Doggett became the first incumbent Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw.

“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 in his statement. “President Biden should do the same.”

Doggett, 77, said he was able to voice this view openly since he is not a vulnerable member of Congress and would face wrath from the White House and the Democrat Party.

A Democrat nominee in Colorado, Adam Frisch, has also called for Biden to withdraw.”

Several others stopping short of calling on Biden to withdraw, but are openly saying he will lose.

Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) on Tuesday published an op-ed saying that former President Donald Trump would win in 2024 and he was “OK with that.” He wrote:

Biden’s poor performance in the debate was not a surprise. It also didn’t rattle me as it has others, because the outcome of this election has been clear to me for months: While I don’t plan to vote for him, Donald Trump is going to win. And I’m OK with that.

Golden also criticized Biden’s handling of the economy and downplayed his role in legislation that the president has taken credit for, writing: “Some of Congress’ best work in recent years has happened in spite of the president, not because of him.”

Also Tuesday, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) told CNN that Biden “has to be honest with himself.”

“We have to be honest with ourselves that it wasn’t just a horrible night, but I won’t go beyond that out of my respect and understanding of President Joe Biden, a very proud person who has served us extraordinarily well for 50 years,” he added.

And Oregon Democrat Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who is facing a tough race against Special Forces veteran Joe Kent, also said she believed that Biden would lose to Trump, but also stopped short of calling on him to step aside.

Top Democrat leaders have so far not openly called for Biden to step aside, but have instead voiced tepid support.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) saying it was a “legitimate question” to ask whether it was an “episode” or “condition,” and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) said he still supports Biden but would support Vice President Kamala Harris if she replaced him as the presidential nominee.

And so far, former President Barack Obama has not come out publicly on the question of whether Biden should stay or go.

A Washington Post report said he has “privately told allies” that Biden’s “already tough path to reelection grew more challenging” — which is harsher than what he has been saying publicly and at fundraisers.

While Obama has held his tongue, his former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro suggested the Democrat Party needed someone else.

Biden’s allies in the media have already begun calling for him to step aside — itself crossing a rubicon since the White House has been reportedly touchy about articles about Biden’s age and cognitive decline.

The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman on Tuesday called for Biden to declare he will release the delegates who vowed to vote for his nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.

Just a day before, Democrats seemed afraid to come out against Biden.

Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) told the Wall Street Journal, “I’m still processing what happened,” and did not answer when asked if Biden’s performance could harm her chances of winning reelection in a competitive district.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), whose race is considered a tossup, also demurred on whether or not Biden should step aside as the Democrat presidential nominee, saying she wanted to read the transcript of the debate before deciding.

Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA) simply distanced himself from Biden, saying,  “know who I am, and they know I’m not the same guy as whoever’s in the White House.”

RELATED: Dem House Candidate — Biden Should Drop Out, His Inner Circle Is ‘Gaslighting’

But the tide is turning fast.

Punchbowl News reported Wednesday morning that “scores of rank-and-file Democrats” are angered by the “underwhelming response” from Biden, the Biden campaign, and the White House.

“This can’t just be the Bidens talking among themselves,” one “veteran House Democrat” told the outlet Tuesday night. “This is the presidency we’re talking about here.”

Another “senior House Democrat” said ominously, “He needs to start showing and stop telling. Otherwise, he will lose more House Dems. It’s that acute.”

The lawmaker added that the “next wave” of Democrats that come out against Biden will be senior members and veteran senators whose opposition could prove “fatal” to Biden’s releection bid.

A Democrat senator told Punchbowl News, “we kind of just feel lied to” about the president’s condition.

“They’ve been shielding him from those types of settings for months and even after it became undeniable, they’re still lying to us,” the senator said “There’s just a lot of frustration right now in the caucus.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told MSNBC Tuesday that “there will be lots of discussion and lots of people weighing in and I know this is a moving target.”

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