Just minutes after President Joe Biden’s so-called “big boy press conference” ended on Thursday night, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee called for him to step aside and allow another presidential nominee to take his place, presaging a potential flood of Democrats expected to similarly break ranks over the next few days.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) said in a statement that he no longer believed the strongest candidate to confront the threat posed by Donald Trump’s “promised MAGA authoritarianism” was Biden. “I hope that, as he has throughout a lifetime of public service, he will continue to put our nation first and, as he promised, make way for a new generation of leaders,” he said.
Posting his statement to X, Himes praised Biden for his record of public service, remarking that his legacy “as a great president” was secure. He urged the 81-year-old not to risk that legacy and American democracy itself in order “to soldier on in the face of the horrors promised by Donald Trump.”
Half an hour later, Politico published a statement from Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) echoing Himes’ words.
“Today I ask President Biden to withdraw from the presidential campaign,” he said. “The stakes are high, and we are on a losing course.”
Not long after, Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-IL) posted a statement on X, writing that in 2020, Biden “ran for President with the purpose of putting country over party.”
Now, Sorensen wants Biden “to do that again”–and withdraw.
“It is more important than ever that our neighbors have a candidate for President who will communicate a positive vision for every person in this country,” Sorensen said. “Someone who can demonstrate the strength and wisdom needed to lead us through the worst storms. A leader who will stand up to the present threats against democracy. Every day, I remain committed to the people of Central & Northwestern Illinois. I believe our best days are still ahead. And today, I am hopeful President Biden will step aside in his campaign for President.”
Earlier, as Americans waited for Biden to kick off his first solo news conference since November, CBS News had reported that “potentially dozens of Democrats” were expected to call for Biden to stand down over the next 48 hours. The planning is “coordinated,” sources with knowledge of the matter told the network.
More than a dozen House Democrats have now called for Biden to abandon his campaign. Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) is the first, and so far only, U.S. senator to chime in. Several prominent Democratic donors, including Oscar winner George Clooney, have also pressed Biden to pull out.
The Thursday press conference eventually began two hours after its scheduled start, at 7:30 p.m. local time in Washington, D.C. The president trundled along, reading competently off a teleprompter as he recited his accomplishments at the NATO summit that occurred throughout the week.
But his gaffes and slip-ups both before and after that speech threatened to overshadow it entirely.
First came the mistake of introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky onstage at a NATO ceremony as “President Putin.” He quickly corrected himself, rushing back to the microphone to excuse his error as the product of his focus “on beating Putin.”
But then, while answering the first question at the news conference, Biden referred to his vice president, Kamala Harris, as “Vice President Trump.” This time, he appeared not to notice his blunder.
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