Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva (D) became the second House Democrat to suggest that President Joe Biden withdraw from the presidential race following his performance at the debate last week.
In an interview with the New York Times, Grijalva stated that he would “support” Biden if he remained in the presidential election, but he suggested that Biden needed to take “responsibility” for keeping the presidency in the hands of the Democrats by getting “out” of the race.
“If he’s the candidate, I’m going to support him, but I think that this is an opportunity to look elsewhere,” Grijalva told the outlet. “What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat – and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race.”
During the presidential debate between Biden and former President Donald Trump, the president at times appeared disoriented, froze, spoke with a hoarse voice, and had difficulty getting through his prepared closing statement without making errors.
The president’s poor debate performance left Democrat officials, donors, voters, and members of the media questioning if Biden would be able to serve another term, and floating the idea of replacing him.
Democrats such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), have issued messages of support for Biden after the presidential debate.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) became the first current House Democrat to publicly call for Biden to withdraw from the presidential election. In a post on X, Doggett wrote that Biden “has continued to run substantially behind Democratic senators in key states and in most polls has trailed Donald Trump.”
On Wednesday, a report from the Associated Press indicated that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had attempted to calm people’s nerves during a campaign call, vowing to remain in the race “to the end.”
