Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., became the latest House Democrat to call Friday for President Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race following his poor performance in last week’s debate.
Quigley said, Friday night interview Appearing on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes,” Biden joined a growing list of Democrats who are skeptical that Biden can beat former President Trump in November.
“Mr. President, your legacy is set, and we owe you the utmost,” Quigley said, referring to Biden. “The only thing you can do now to cement that forever and prevent total catastrophe is to step down and let someone else take over.”
In an interview, he said it would be a difficult decision to force Biden to resign given what he has accomplished for the country.
Quigley, who has served in Congress since a special election in 2009, along with Reps. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona) and Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), have explicitly called for Biden to step down and give someone else a chance to challenge Trump.
Doggett, who made the initial remarks, said he was disappointed because he had hoped the debate would help his campaign, and said he hoped Biden would make the “difficult decision to pull out.”
Grijalva said he still supports Biden but thinks it’s time for the party to choose someone new. Moulton said Thursday that Biden should follow in the footsteps of former President George Washington and step aside to allow new leaders to challenge Trump.
Quigley warned that Trump would be another “nightmare” president and said Democrats would be “locked into a bitter fight again” if Biden retreated.
“So to those who say everything’s fine, I say it’s not,” he said, referring to the impact Biden’s debate could have on the House and Senate elections. “Everything you care about is at stake.”
The results of last week’s presidential debate have caused widespread panic among Democrats not only about Biden’s ability to beat Trump at the polls this fall, but also about his ability to serve another term as president.
Since then, there have been numerous calls for Biden to halt his campaign and appoint another candidate to take on Trump, but Biden and his team insist they have no plans to back down.
At his first major rally since the calls began, Biden forcefully declared Friday that he would remain in the race. He gave an ABC News interview late Friday that was widely seen as a make-or-break moment for the campaign.
Appearing on ABC after Biden’s interview, Quigley said he had a high opinion of Vice President Harris and believed Biden would ultimately make the decision.
But for now, he said everyone should take it “one day at a time.”
