In a huge blow for the US President, the first sitting Democratic politician has called for Joe Biden to make the “painful decision” to withdraw from the election after he “failed” against Donald Trump.
It comes as a number of state governors from the Democratic Party have asked for an urgent meeting with the White House to discuss concerns following Mr Biden’s abysmal performance in last week’s election debate against Mr Trump.
Meanwhile, a new poll has stated 75 per cent of Democrat voters now think the party would fare better if “someone else,” other than Mr Biden was on the presidential ticket.
But the White House has indicated Mr Biden will remain in the race. Given how many primaries and caucuses he has already won, it would be difficult to remove him from the ticket were he not to stand down of his own accord.
‘Painful and difficult decision’
On Tuesday, Texas Democrat Lloyd Doggett made public his call for Mr Biden to step aside, reported Fox News.
He is the first sitting politician from Mr Biden’s party to announce his opposition to the President remaining in the race.
He is unlikely to be the last.
The congressman, the equivalent of an Australian MP, represents Texas’ 37th district which covers the west of the city of Austin.
He said keeping Mr Biden raises the chances of Mr Trump winning in November.
“I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson. Under very different circ*mstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw. President Biden should do the same,” Mr Doggett said.
In 1968, then President Johnson, hurt by the Vietnam War, said he would not seek a second term.
President ‘failed’
“My decision to make these strong reservations public is not done lightly nor does it in any way diminish my respect for all that President Biden has achieved,” ” Mr Doggett said.
“Recognising that, unlike Trump, President Biden’s first commitment has always been to our country, not himself, I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw.
“I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that,” he added.
“It did not.
“Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies”.
South Carolina Representative James Clyburn came close to pushing for Mr Biden’s withdrawal on Tuesday.
He said he would prefer Mr Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to retain the White House. but would support Ms Harris were Mr Biden to walk away.
“This party should not, in any way, do anything to work around Ms Harris. We should do everything we can to bolster her whether she’s in second place or at the top of the ticket,” he said.
Crucial governors meeting
It’s been reported that a group of powerful Democratic governors held a concerned conference call on Monday and “expressed surprise,” Mr Biden had not already contacted some of them to calm their worries.
Some were disappointed Mr Biden did not make the decision to step down following discussions with his family on Sunday.
A meeting at the White House is thought to be planned for Wednesday.
There are rumbles some in the powerful group may also publicly ask Mr Biden to step aside.
In an effort to shore up support, there have been suggestions Mr Biden should attend campaign rallies in the swing states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania later in the week.
Since his shambolic, stumbling, performance at the debate, Mr Biden has seemed more energised and on the ball at several events and speeches.
His campaign team are keen that that version of Mr Biden be seem more widely. A number of prominent Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, have backed Mr Biden following the debate disaster.
Poll says ‘someone else’ could do better
But a poll by network CNN among 1374 Democrat voters said only 25 per cent now think the party’s electoral chances would be better with Mr Biden as the candidate. Three quarters said they believe “someone else” would be in a more advantageous position to beat Mr Trump.
VP Harris is emerging as a likely candidate with 45 per cent of registered voters saying they would pick her to 47 per cent for Mr Trump if she was the Democratic candidate. That’s compared to 43 per cent for Mr Biden now.
Ms Harris has a stronger showing than Mr Biden with women and independent voters.
California Governor Gavin Newsom and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are next in line with 43 per cent of voters likely to pick them. That is still below Mr Trump, however.
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