Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., claimed he was not part of a “coordinated effort” to pressure President Biden to drop out of the race despite being one of the first to publicly ask him to withdraw.
“I can’t speak to the private efforts that either Speaker Pelosi or Chuck Schumer or Hakeem Jeffries were undertaking, because I really wasn’t part of those internal discussions, so I don’t know what they were conveying to the president except that they were conveying the feedback they got from members of the House and Senate,” Schiff told the co-hosts of ABC’s “The View” on Wednesday.
He continued, “I can only speak for myself. I wasn’t part of a coordinated effort.”
Schiff was one of the first prominent Democrats to publicly call on Biden to drop out of the race in the weeks following Biden’s disastrous debate performance.
“I really resisted wanting to say what I ultimately felt I needed to, but having worked on the January 6th committee, having worked on impeachment of the former president, having the grave concerns that I have that if we go back to the disastrous presidency of Donald Trump, it could be the end of our democracy as we know it,” the California congressman and U.S. Senate candidate told the daytime hosts.
“I felt compelled to speak out, but I can tell you only for myself, it wasn’t part of a coordinated effort but rather a reluctant decision to say what I think many Americans were thinking and that is, we really need someone who can prosecute the case vigorously against Donald Trump, to protect our country from the likes of Donald Trump,” he added.
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin asked Schiff if the White House had to work to do in restoring the public trust surrounding its messaging on Biden’s health.
“I think we had confidence in the president’s ability to do the job. He’s been an incredible president. He’s done more in one term than most presidents ever accomplish. I think the questions that were raised after the debate, because of the debate were whether he could win the job for another term,” Schiff said.
He also said Biden reflected on the possibility of losing to Trump and ultimately came to the right decision.
“I think it was the right decision, but, look, I’m sure it was enormously difficult for him. It was enormously difficult for me and for many in the party, because we have not only such respect for him, but, affection and admiration, but it was the right decision, and I think we’ve seen already how people have responded to that decision, not with derision, not with saying it should have been done before, but rather what an extraordinary act of statesmanship,” he added.
Schiff is running for the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat in California.
He reportedly voiced concerns over Biden’s candidacy during a Democratic fundraiser before publicly calling on Biden to bow out.
“I think if he is our nominee, I think we lose,” he said, according to The New York Times. “And we may very, very well lose the Senate and lose our chance to take back the House.”
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