Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) made headlines as the first House Democrat to publicly urge President Joe Biden to step down as the Democratic presidential nominee, highlighting the growing concern within the party over Biden’s debate performance. Doggett’s call reflects the internal party anxiety now spilling into the public sphere.
“President Biden has continued to run substantially behind Democratic senators in key states and in most polls has trailed Donald Trump,” Doggett stated. “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.”
Doggett emphasized his belief in Biden’s commitment to the country, contrasting it with Trump’s self-serving nature. “Recognizing 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 respectfully call on him to do so,” he added.
Adam Frisch, a Democratic candidate running in Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-Colo.) 3rd Congressional District in Colorado, echoed Doggett’s sentiments shortly after. Frisch, who narrowly lost to Boebert in 2022, called for Biden to exit the race as well.
“We deserve better. President Biden should do what’s best for the country and withdraw from the race,” Frisch said. “I thank President Biden for his years of service, but the path ahead requires a new generation of leadership to take our country forward.”
Former Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) also weighed in earlier that day, publishing an opinion piece advocating for Vice President Kamala Harris to be positioned as the Democratic presidential nominee.
While these views do not represent the majority of the party—at least not publicly—there is a noticeable shift in tone among some Democrats, diverging from the unified front presented by Democratic leadership and Biden’s campaign team.
“It’s a familiar story: Following Thursday night’s debate, the beltway class is counting Joe Biden out. The data in the battleground states, though, tells a different story,” Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley stated in a Saturday memo.
“On every metric that matters, data shows it did nothing to change the American people’s perception. Our supporters are more fired up than ever, and Donald Trump only reminded voters of why they fired him four years ago and failed to expand his appeal beyond his MAGA base,” she added.
Public polls conducted after the debate have done little to alleviate Democratic concerns about Biden’s performance affecting his chances in battleground and traditionally blue-leaning states. A Saint Anselm College poll released on Monday showed Trump narrowly leading Biden 44 percent to 42 percent in New Hampshire, within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percent.
Meanwhile, a USA Today/Suffolk University poll released on Tuesday indicated Trump at 41 percent and Biden at 38 percent, also within the survey’s 3.1 percentage point margin of error.
