Rep. Angie Craig calls on President Biden to drop out
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U.S. Rep. Angie Craig is running for re-election in a suburban swing seat in Minnesota. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) on Saturday became the latest House Democrat calling on President Biden to exit the presidential race.
Why it matters: Craig is the first swing-district House Democrat to try to nudge Biden out amid concerns that his age will cause problems for Democrats running further down the ballot.
What she's saying: "[G]iven what I saw and heard from the President during last week's debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the President himself following that debate, I do not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump," Craig said in a statement issued Saturday morning.
- Craig is the fifth House Democrat to publicly call on Biden to withdraw, joining safe-seat Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), and Mike Quigley (D-Ill.).
Other Democrats have told Axios that they believe Biden should step aside, and more lawmakers are expected to publicly call for his withdrawal in the coming days.
- Biden has repeatedly resisted calls to step aside.
- His campaign communications director Michael Tyler said on MSNBC that the president understands "there are some concerns coming off the debate" but the campaign raised $38 million after that night and is "focused now on moving forward with the campaign and defeating Donald Trump."
The other side: National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella criticized Craig's statement as a "transparent election-year ploy to try to cling to her seat."
State of play: Craig is running for re-election in Minnesota's sole battleground congressional district.
- She won the south metro seat by five percentage points in 2022 but only by two percentage points in 2020, when Trump and Biden were on the ballot.
Flashback: Craig sounded the alarm about Biden's age back in 2022, pledging to "do everything in my power as a member of Congress to make sure that we have a new generation of leadership."
- But she later supported his bid, saying it would be a waste of time and money to back someone else.
- She raised concerns about his debate performance earlier this week but stopped short of saying he should step aside.
Zoom in: She's also the most prominent Minnesota Democrat to make the demand.
- Gov. Tim Walz, a Biden surrogate, recommitted his support after a meeting at the White House this week, saying, "Governors have his back."
What we're watching: Craig didn't endorse a successor, but said the situation creates an "opportunity to put forward an open, fair, and transparent Democratic process to select a new nominee to inspire and unite our great nation."
Go deeper: These congressional Democrats are demanding Biden withdraw
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from Biden's campaign.
