Representative Adam Schiff has added his name to a growing list of influential Democrats and donors who have called on Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, Schiff said that Biden “has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history, and his lifetime of service as a senator, a vice president, and now as president has made our country better.… But our nation is at a crossroads. A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the president can defeat Donald Trump in November.” He added that the “choice to withdraw from the campaign is president Biden’s alone,” but that, in his opinion, it is time “to pass the torch” and “secure his legacy of leadership” by ensuring Democrat beats Trump.
Schiff stressed that he will support whoever the Democratic nominee is in November, including Biden, should the president choose not to drop out. “I will do everything I can to help them succeed,” he said. “There is only one singular goal: defeating Donald Trump. The stakes are just too high.”
As The New York Times noted, Schiff is at least the 20th House Democrat to publicly call on Biden to step aside. It also pointed out that Schiff is “closely aligned with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi—who has not gone so far as to say that Mr. Biden should end his campaign but suggested last week that he might want to consider it.”
Earlier this month, actor and major Democratic fundraiser George Clooney wrote an op-ed saying Biden should step down; according to Politico, before the piece was published, Clooney “reached out to former president Barack Obama to give him a heads-up,” and, “while Obama did not encourage or advise Clooney to say what he said, he also didn’t object to it.”
In response to Schiff’s statement, the Biden campaign pointed the Times to the letter the president sent to congressional Democrats last week saying he was “firmly committed to staying in this race” and adding, “I can respond to all this by saying clearly and unequivocally: I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.”
Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders is sticking with Joe
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