Adam Schiff Calls on Biden to Drop Out, Reviving Rebellion

18 Jul 2024

BNN

(Bloomberg) -- California Representative Adam Schiff, the front-runner in the state’s US Senate race, called Wednesday for Joe Biden to quit the presidential contest, reviving Democratic infighting over the troubled reelection campaign.

Schiff is the first Democratic lawmaker to defect from Biden since the attempted assassination Saturday of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The shooting tamped down the public battle over Biden’s candidacy, though tensions continued to simmer behind the scenes.

“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” Schiff said in a statement.

The Los Angeles Times first reported the news.

Schiff was one of the most prominent congressional critics of Trump during his presidency, leading one of the impeachment prosecutions of the former president, and he is a close ally of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

He had been critical of Biden’s candidacy and chances in recent weeks but had stopped short of calling on Biden to step aside.

Biden has said he is staying in the race despite the calls from members of his own party to withdraw.

An AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released earlier Wednesday found 65% of Democrats want Biden to step aside. The poll was conducted July 11-15.

Lawmakers dissatisfied with Biden in the wake of his disastrous June 27 debate performance have been struggling to revive their effort to oust him from the presidential ticket during the current congressional recess. Prior to the Saturday Trump shooting, Democrats had expected a new wave of defectors to announce their dissatisfaction with Biden over the weekend.

So far 19 other House Democrats and Senator Peter Welch of Vermont have said Biden should step aside.

House Democrats had been organizing a letter to the Democratic National Committee urging the DNC to postpone a virtual nomination of Biden planned for this month. That letter was called off after the DNC announced Wednesday that the virtual roll call will happen in August, allowing more time for the debate over Biden to continue.

“What we need is a fair, open democratic process to select a new nominee that can excite and engage more Americans,” Texas Democrat Lloyd Doggett said in a statement Wednesday. Doggett was the first House Democrat to call for Biden to step aside earlier this month.