AUSTIN, Texas — Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) has called on President Joe Biden to step down as the Democratic party's presumptive nominee, citing the commander in chief's debate performance against former president Donald Trump.
"President Biden has continued to run substantially behind Democratic senators in key states and in most polls has trailed Donald Trump. I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not," Doggett said in a statement Tuesday. "Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies."
Doggett –who is 77, four years younger than President Biden– is the first Texas Democrat in Congress to call for the president to withdraw from the ticket.
In his statement, Doggett thanked the president for his service, but said while "President Biden saved our democracy by delivering us from Trump in 2020," he must not "deliver us to Trump in 2024."
Doggett said while much of President Biden's work has been "transformational," the president pledged to be "transitional" and now has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of Democrats from whom a nominee can be chosen.
"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 said. "Recognizing that, unlike Trump, President Biden’s first commitment has always been to our country, not himself, I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. I respectfully call on him to do so.”
President Biden is expected to officially become the Democrats' nominee during the party's national convention, set to be held from Aug. 19 through Aug. 22 in Chicago.