After days of internal and external strife surrounding President Joe Biden and his campaign following the presumptive Democrat nominee's poor performance opposite former President Donald Trump, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett from Texas became the first Democrat lawmaker to call on his party's — and the country's — leader to drop out of the 2024 election.
After praising President Biden for his work that has "achieved much for our country," Doggett noted in a statement released Tuesday that "for more than a year, many Americans have indicated dissatisfaction with their choices in this election" — and then he didn't hold back explaining why he believes Biden should step aside.
"President Biden has continued to run substantially behind Democratic senators in key states and in most polls has trailed Donald Trump," Doggett recounted of the alarming numbers as Democrats seek to chart a course toward victory for Biden and down-ballot candidates. "I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not."
Framing the situation in typical Democrat-speak, Doggett said that his party's "overriding consideration must be who has the best hope of saving our democracy from an authoritarian takeover by a criminal and his gang. 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."
Tilting over into the hyperbolic, Doggett declared that "President Biden saved our democracy by delivering us from Trump in 2020" and warned Biden "must not deliver us to Trump in 2024." A bit dramatic, and also a bit reminiscent of the 2016 campaign run by Hillary Clinton (how'd that go?).
"I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson," Doggett's statement continued, invoking some historical precedent. "Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw. President Biden should do the same."
Reminding that President Biden pledged to be a "transitional" leader for Democrats, Doggett said the president "has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of leaders from whom a nominee can be chosen to unite our country through an open, democratic process." Transitional, he could have been — if perhaps he had chosen any Democrat other than Kamala Harris.
In anticipation of the blowback from Bidenworld for making an evidence-based argument for Biden to withdraw from the race, Doggett stated that his "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. 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."
Doggett, formerly a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, was first elected to the House in 1995, so he's seen a thing or two in his time working with five presidents. In the 2022 midterms, Doggett handily won re-election with more than 76 percent of the vote.
Woah
— Matthew Choi (@matthewichoi) July 2, 2024
Austin Dem Rep. Lloyd Doggett calls on Biden to withdraw pic.twitter.com/IZod4LDeD1
This is a developing story and may be updated.