Biden could be 'the one who turned our country over to a tyrant' if he stays in race: Dem rep

05 July 2024

The first Democratic member of Congress to call on President Joe Biden to halt his reelection bid hasn't changed course despite Biden's performance in a rally and an ABC News interview.

During a Friday night segment, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) told CNN host Jim Sciutto that while he holds the president in high regard, he views former President Donald Trump as too much of a threat to democracy for his party to not run its best candidate available.

"Joe Biden is a good man. He's an American patriot. Yet the need for him to step aside as urgent tonight than when i first called for it on Tuesday," Doggett said. "He doesn't need to convince me or any member of our Democratic caucus or probably any Democratic elected official that he is a much better, more qualified person to be our president again than a convicted criminal who tried to overthrow the government and is engaged in appalling conduct, but despite that difference, he has trailed in state after state."

Since Doggett publicly called for Biden to exit the race, several other Democrats — Reps. Raúl Grijalva (D-Arizona), Mike Quigley (D-Illinois) and Seth Moulton (D-Massachusetts) — have also gone on the record asking the president to hand off his candidacy to a younger challenger. The Texas Democrat emphasized that while he would support Biden if he were the nominee, that the window for Democrats to select an alternative better suited to go against Trump is closing.

"[W]e can't afford to lose this race. and that's why we have to pick the strongest candidate possible," Doggett said. "And every day he delays in making that decision, makes it more difficult. we're wasting our time defending him when we should be pointing out the shortcomings, the failures, the wrongdoing of Donald Trump. And every day he delays. it, makes it more difficult for a new person to come on board who can defeat Donald Trump.

Doggett — a longtime congressman of nearly 30 years — said that aside from Biden's weak debate performance, his continued digging in on his candidacy has frustrated both him and his colleagues. The president said during both his Madison, Wisconsin rally and in his ABC News interview that he was staying in the race through November. Doggett reminded Sciutto and CNN viewers that the Supreme Court recently gave Trump "a blank check to act like a king" with its immunity ruling, and that Biden remaining in the race was a mistake that could risk the future of democracy.

"He does not want his legacy to be that he's the one who turned over our country to a tyrant," Doggett said.

In addition to House Democrats, some Senate Democrats are also planning to approach Biden in order to try and persuade him to step aside from his campaign. The Washington Post reported that Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia), who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, is currently enlisting a group of his colleagues to formally ask the president to exit the race next week.

Earlier this week, Biden met with 20 Democratic governors at the White House to get their buy-in for his continued candidacy following his shaky debate performance. But on Friday, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey (D) urged the president to "listen to the American people" and seriously consider if he was truly up to the challenge of defeating Trump in November.

Watch Doggett's interview below, or by clicking this link.

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