First House Democrat publicly calls for Biden to withdraw
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Democratic lawmaker Lloyd Doggett called on the president to withdraw from the race. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) on Tuesday became the first Democratic member of Congress to publicly call for President Biden to withdraw as the party's 2024 nominee after his disastrous debate performance last week.
Why it matters: Many Democratic lawmakers are increasingly worried about a rout for their party up and down the ticket on Nov. 5 and hoping to salvage their chances.
What he's saying: "Too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory—too great a risk to assume that what could not be turned around in a year, what was not turned around in the debate, can be turned around now," the longtime Texas Democrat said in a statement.
- "My decision to make these strong reservations public is not done lightly, nor does it in any way diminish my respect for all that President Biden has achieved," Doggett continued.
- "I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. I respectfully call on him to do so."
The other side: Asked about Doggett's comments, the Biden campaign referred back to a past statement from spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg that the president "is absolutely not dropping out."
- Biden's campaign has disputed that the debate was as big a problem as some Democrats fear and has touted Thursday as its best grassroots fundraising day ever.
Zoom in: Doggett, 77, has represented Austin, Texas in Congress for nearly three decades and is a leading member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
- A member of the Democratic Party's progressive wing, Doggett is the co-dean of Texas' congressional delegation along with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas).
- "Somebody had to go first and it had to be somebody who didn't have a lot to lose," Ed Espinoza, an Austin-based Democratic strategist, tells Axios.
- Espinoza added that it is "hard to penalize someone as senior as Doggett ... who has the respect of his peers and is not looking to run for another office. All those things create far less liability for someone like Doggett to come out and say this."
State of play: Biden's shaky debate performance left Democratic lawmakers reeling, with many privately floating potential replacements.
- The 81-year-old president was hoarse and stilted, suffering many noticeable gaffes that the Trump campaign was quick to splice into a digital ad and Republicans have continued to hammer on.
The bottom line: "It was important that someone like Doggett be the first because you can't say this is a case of ageism if one of Biden's peers is encouraging him to go a different direction," Espinoza said.
Axios' Stef W. Kight contributed to this story.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with more details.
