Lloyd Doggett Becomes First Democratic Congressman To Call On Joe Biden To Quit Presidential Race

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) has become the first Democratic member of Congress to publicly urge President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race following his performance against Donald Trump in a recently held debate.

The president struggled during his face-off with Trump and mumbled words incoherently, sparking widespread speculations that he's not healthy enough to finish a second term in the Oval Office.

His wife, Jill Biden, has also come under pressure from some quarters after they accused her of treating him like a child, as she's understood to be a major driving force in his reelection bid.

Following reports that several Democrats are privately gunning for Biden to step down from the presidential race after a disappointing outing against his main rival, Donald Trump, rep Lloyd Doggett has bravely defied the sensitivity, emerging as the first Democrat to publicly call for the incumbent to drop out of the contest, per CNN.

"I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson. Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw," Doggett said in a statement. "President Biden should do the same."

He noted that by stepping down, Biden could help usher in a new set of leadership that will help the Democratic party achieve its main goal, defeating Trump in the November elections.

"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," the Texas Congressman said, adding, "I respectfully call on him to do so."

The 81-year-old politician recently acknowledged that his outing against Trump left much to be desired. However, Biden insisted that he's up to the task, claiming he knows "how to do this job."

"I know I'm not a young man. I don't walk as easily as I used to. I don't talk as smoothly as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know," Biden said Friday in North Carolina. "I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job, I know how to get things done. And I know what millions of Americans know: When you get knocked down, you get back up."

The debate, which was hosted by CNN, saw Biden lose his train of thought for a few seconds as his voice maintained a husky tone while he sometimes mumbled words incoherently.

Some Democratic donors have since labeled the outing "the worst performance in history," with one donor telling Politico that the president's effort was "so bad that no one will pay attention to Trump's lies" and that Biden "needs to drop out. No question about it."

Despite mounting pressure from some quarters for him to reconsider vying for a second term, Biden's camp has stated that he's set to press forward with his ambitions and will not drop out of the race.

When asked if the president would exit the race, Biden's campaign spokesperson Seth Schuster responded: "No," while another adviser told the news outlet that "there's no basis for that," adding that "There's nothing that voters have indicated that they agree with that."

According to CNN, the campaign co-chair Mitch Landrieu said he has "100% confidence in Joe Biden" and that it remains the president's "decision alone whether he's going to continue."

"And I think he answered that question for the public today in North Carolina," Landrieu added.

It comes after reports surfaced suggesting that Biden's wife, Jill, has been under pressure from some quarters because of her influence over the incumbent's reelection bid.

Some political watchers and commentators have shared that the final say on whether Biden quits the race lies in the hands of the first lady; however, she'll most likely not throw in the towel without a fight.

US politics expert and lecturer at the University of Nottingham, Christopher Phelps, told the Daily Mail that he expects Jill and the Biden family to be "resistant" to calls for the president to step aside.

"She is a close counsel of Joe Biden and his ardent supporter, both personally and politically. She was reputedly crucial to Biden's decision to run again, and she will undoubtedly be crucial in the coming days as pressure mounts on Biden to withdraw," Phelps shared.

According to the historian, Biden's family would be resistant to the idea of him quitting due to the fact that he won the presidency in 2020.

Phelps said, "The fact that Joe Biden won the presidency in the first place, and now has clocked millions and millions of primary votes, means that there will be a natural resistance in the family to any idea that Biden should quit now, just because of one poor debate performance. But no one knows the conversations that are going on over the pillows in the White House."

Meanwhile, in a recent conversation with Vogue, the English lecturer shared her unwillingness to exit the race, saying they "will not let those 90 minutes define the four years he's been president. We will continue to fight," going on to note that her husband "will always do what's best for the country."