© 2024 Allbritton Journalism Institute

The First Democratic Member Just Called for Joe Biden to Withdraw

“Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett said in a statement.

Lloyd Doggett
Rep. Lloyd Doggett said President Joe Biden should withdraw from the race. Stephen Spillman/AP

The first Democratic member of Congress publicly called on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the race — a potential dam-breaking moment after his poor debate performance last week.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the longest-serving and oldest Democrat in the Texas congressional delegation, said in a statement on Tuesday that Biden needs to step aside.

“President Biden has continued to run substantially behind Democratic senators in key states and in most polls has trailed Donald Trump,” Doggett wrote in a statement. “I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not. Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies.”