Democrat U.S. Representative Adam Schiff of California became the newest — and most prominent so far —member of Joe Biden's party to call on the president to withdraw and step aside in the 2024 election on Wednesday.
Schiff, who began serving in the House in 2001 and currently represents California's 30th Congressional District covering the Burbank and Hollywood areas, told The Los Angeles Times that he has "serious concerns" about President Biden continuing to run as his party's nominee.
Schiff is also the Democrats' nominee for the U.S. Senate in California this November and the latest round of campaign finance disclosures showed his Republican opponent, Steve Garvey, outraising him — potentially triggering fears for Schiff that remaining tied to Biden might hurt his chances on Election Day.
Explaining to the Times that "our nation is at a crossroads," Schiff's statement repeated a refrain common among Biden-wary Democrats on Capitol Hill that the "choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden's alone."
"I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November," Schiff said, explaining it's time for Biden "to pass the torch" in order to "secure his legacy of leadership."
Whether Biden steps aside or not, Schiff pledged to "do everything" he can to elect the Democrat ticket. "There is only one singular goal: defeating Donald Trump," Schiff said. "The stakes are just too high."
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Schiff and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi have always been close during their decades serving together in the House, making it likely that Schiff sought approval from — and apparently wasn't dissuaded by — Pelosi before making his position public. It's a situation that looks awfully similar to George Clooney's op-ed in The New York Times telling Biden to step aside, one that he reportedly ran by Barack Obama who did not tell him not to run it.
Knives are out for Biden. He got a short respite for calls for his ouster in 2024 over the weekend. Still, prominent Democrats are clearly committed to their mission of replacing Biden at the top of the ticket — and still expanding the network of proxies they're using to make the point and keep the narrative in the news cycle.
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