WASHINGTON — In a conference call Friday, House Democrats directly urged President Biden to stop campaigning for a second term in an effort to shore up support among Hispanic members of Congress, the most direct call yet by lawmakers to ask the 81-year-old Biden to forego reelection.
At the request of Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.), the organizer of the meeting, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), who had already ignored a request to speak from Rep. Marie Grusenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), president of the Albritton Institute for Journalism, hastily ended the Zoom meeting. report.
Perez, 36, is running for Biden. resign as president In addition to taking over the nomination.
It was unclear what exactly the 81-year-old president said in response to Levin, whose district covers parts of San Diego and Orange counties in Southern California.
Biden, with a dwindling circle of trusted advisers and severely restricted access to him, held a defiant news conference on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Washington and dismissed growing calls for him to resign.
After the call, Levin, 45, publicly called on Biden to step down.
“Like many of you, I was understandably concerned about President Biden’s performance in the recent debates,” he said in a statement.
“Making this statement is not easy. I have deep respect for President Biden’s more than 50 years of public service and am incredibly grateful for the work we’ve done together these last three and a half years. But I believe it’s time for President Biden to pass the baton.”
So far, 19 House Democrats and one senator have publicly called for Biden to resign following his disastrous June 27 debate defeat to former President Donald Trump, during which Biden appeared confused and made puzzling statements such as “I won on Medicare.”
Biden was often stumped on Thursday night, when he mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” and later referred to Vice President Trump as “Vice President Trump” at a press conference rather than Kamala Harris.
Grusenkamp-Perez said Thursday that Biden may not be truly running the country and should consider leaving office before his term is up.
“I question the president’s health, his ability to do his job and his judgment about whether he, and not unelected advisers, should be the person making important decisions for our country,” she said. Statement to KGW8.
“The American people should feel that the president is fully capable of doing his job. The crisis of confidence in the president’s leadership needs to end. He should do what he knows is right for the country and put the national interest first.”
The White House and Biden campaign did not immediately respond to The Washington Post’s requests for comment.
