President Joe Biden told Congressional Democrats that he has no intention to comply with calls for him to resign, and said it is time for the drama inside the party that has erupted due to these calls to “end.” In the two-page letter to members of the House, who are now returning from their Fourth of July recess, Biden acknowledged the fallout from his debate performance but urged them to move on.
“The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end,” he wrote, adding that the party currently has “one job” which is to beat GOP frontrunner Donald Trump in the general election.
“We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the general election,” the letter continues. “Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It’s time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.”
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Last Tuesday, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) became the first Democratic member of the House to call for Biden to resign, arguing that Biden’s inability to “effectively defend his many accomplishments” and his lackluster debate performance against Trump meant that he could not successfully lead the party in November.
Then, a private call held by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies (NY) led to four more Democratic lawmakers calling for Biden’s resignation: Adam Smith (WA), Jerry Nadler (NY), Mark Takano (CA) and Joe Morelle (NY). According to NBC, this brought the total number of lawmakers that called for Biden’s resignation to nearly twelve.
By turns the politicians criticized Biden’s debate performance and the future of the party under his leadership. The reports indicate that many lawmakers who did not call for his resignation still expressed their discontent with the idea of Biden going up against Trump, saying he is not the strongest contender. There was allegedly an “overwhelming sense” that Vice President Kamala Harris would be the obvious replacement for Biden and that she would fare better than him.
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics and business for VT and a regular guest on The Unusual Suspects. Follow Shane’s work here.
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