Democrat Michigan Rep. Hillary Scholten issued a statement on Thursday calling on President Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race.
Scholten published the statement on X.
“President Biden has spent his life serving our nation and building the next generation of American leadership. For the good of our democracy, I believe it is time for him to step aside from the presidential race and allow a new leader to step up,” she wrote.
“With the challenges facing our country in 2025 and beyond, it is essential that we have the strongest possible candidate leading the top of the ticket,” she continued, adding “Joe Biden has been that leader for so long; but this is not about the past, it’s about the future. It’s time to pass the torch.”
President Biden has served his country well, but for the sake of our democracy, he must pass the torch to a new candidate for the 2024 election. pic.twitter.com/derEO1kl3f
— Hillary Scholten (@HillaryScholten) July 11, 2024
Biden is facing calls from many members of his own party to step aside. Right after the debate, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) became the first Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw from the race.
“Too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory,” he wrote. “President Biden saved our democracy by delivering us from Trump in 2020. He must not deliver us to Trump in 2024."
🚨 Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, calls on Biden to WITHDRAW from the 2024 election. "Too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory," he says. "President Biden saved our democracy by delivering us from Trump in 2020. He must not deliver us to Trump in 2024."
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 2, 2024
His full statement: pic.twitter.com/DTS0SolCnl
Shortly after, Arizona Democrat Rep. Raúl Grijalva called on Biden to withdraw from 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 New York Times. “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.”
In response, Biden released a statement refusing to leave the presidential race.
“I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024,” he asserted.
JUST IN: Joe Biden sent a letter to Congress declaring he is staying in the race despite his rapidly deteriorating health. pic.twitter.com/Uh4GIGYEFn
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 8, 2024
The day after the presidential debate, a poll from YouGov showed that nearly half of Americans believe that the Democratic Party should replace President Joe Biden in the 2024 election. These numbers were unveiled hours after his disastrous debate performance, which Townhall covered.
In the survey, respondents were asked: “Who do you think the Democratic Party should nominate as its presidential candidate, if it wants to have the best chance of winning?”
Only 30 percent of respondents said “Joe Biden.” Forty-nine percent said “someone else.” Twenty-two percent said “not sure.”
Separate polls since then have shown Trump defeating Biden in the upcoming election.
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