
As many Democrats continue to quietly express concerns about President Joe Biden‘s prospects in light of last week’s debate, Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona became the second Democrat in Congress to publicly call for Biden to withdraw from his re-election campaign on Wednesday.
If Biden is the front-runner, Grijalva told The New York Times, “Although I believe this is an opportunity to look elsewhere, I will still support him.”
“Take ownership of maintaining that seat and part of that duty is to withdraw from this race,” he continued. Biden must accept this responsibility.
Grijalva’s remarks were verified by a representative on Wednesday evening.
Grijalva co-chaired the Congressional Progressive Caucus, making her a prominent progressive voice on Capitol Hill. The first Democrat on Capitol Hill to call on Biden to withdraw from the race was Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat from Texas, on Tuesday.
When contacted about Grijalva’s comments, a representative of Biden’s campaign cited the candidate, his campaign, and the White House’s efforts to “answer queries brought up following the discussion,” including the candidate’s appearances in media interviews and campaign events and his scheduled news conference for the following week.
Behind closed doors, Democrats are frantically debating Joe Biden’s candidacy and, should it come down to it, considering his potential successor at the head of the ticket.
According to Biden and his group of close campaign and White House advisors, he is not withdrawing. During a Wednesday call with campaign staff, Biden made it clear he intended to stay in the race.
According to a caller, Biden stated, “I want to be as clear, simple, and direct as I can when I say this: I’m running.” Nobody is ejecting me. I’m not going anywhere. I intend to finish this race, and we will prevail.
Grijalva is the first Democratic senator from a crucial swing state to demand that Biden resign. Arizona became blue by just over 10,000 votes in 2020 thanks to Biden’s razor-thin victory.
Doggett and Grijalva both won their races handily in 2022 and are located in districts that lean Democratic. Grijalva received 64.5% of the vote, while Doggett received 76.8%.
Doggett attributed his decision to push Biden to withdraw to declining polling figures and Biden’s debating performance.
“I stand for the center of a congressional district that Lyndon Johnson formerly served in. Doggett said in a statement on Tuesday that “He took the difficult choice to step back under rather different conditions.” “President Biden ought to follow suit.”
The 76-year-old Grijalva is running for reelection to Congress this year after winning a seat there in 2002. He has been a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for a long time and is the leading Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair, Representative Nanette Barragán, told NBC News that she was unaware that Grijalva intended to demand that Biden resign.
She remarked, “It always surprises you when you don’t anticipate things.” “And I kept quiet with him.”