[WaPo] The top Democrats calling on Biden to drop out of the 2024 election

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4772462-booker-democratic-nominee/

15 minutes ago
Booker: I’ll 'support whoever our nominee is coming out of the convention'
by Alexander Bolton
07/15/24 9:15 AM ET

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who ran for president himself in 2020, says he will support “whoever our nominee is coming out of the convention,” signaling he’s open to backing a Democratic nominee other than President Biden.

Booker said he didn’t want to air the party’s “issues publicly” but nevertheless hinted he’s not entirely satisfied with Biden heading the party’s ticket in 2024 by expressing openness to another nominee for president, despite the president's insistence that he won’t drop out of the race.

“I’ve been very, very pointed with press all throughout the week that I’m not airing these things publicly,” Booker told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

“I have very directly had conversations with the White House, with the president and his team, and with Chuck Schumer, our leader, but I’m a big believer that right now the worst thing to do in terms of hurting the Democratic brand is to air a lot of these issues publicly,” Booker said, referring to the Senate Majority leader.

“That’s my decision. And I’m going to make sure that I position myself best to support whoever our nominee is coming out of the convention,” he said.

Booker made his comments after fellow Democratic Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) last week called on Biden to drop his reelection campaign “for the good of the country.”

Welch said the national conversation is focused on President Biden’s age and capacity,” noting “only he can change it.”

The Vermont senator pointed to polling showing that voters in Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia are shifting to the GOP.

Welch also hailed Vice President Kamala Harris, who Democratic strategists say would have the inside track to win the nomination if Biden drops out, as a “capable, proven leader.”

Three Democratic senators, Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), warned at a private meeting last week that they think Biden will lose to Trump in November.
​

 

damn. Biden has lost Bob Costas

https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-kn...p-out-we-can-no-longer-indulge-his-delusions/

Bob Costas says 'clearly in decline' Biden must drop out: 'We can no longer indulge his delusions'
by Miranda Nazzaro
07/15/24 3:59 PM ET

Emmy-winning sportscaster Bob Costas renewed his call for President Biden to step down from the 2024 race over the weekend, pointing to the president's "serious decline."

"And for those who say the definition of cognitive dissonance here is, 'Oh, we're not going to toss him overboard because of one bad night,' that one bad night, that one atrocious night was simply writ large what could be seen for years and years that he is in serious decline," Costas said Saturday on CNN, hours before the attempted assassination against former President Trump.

Costas is among the increasing number of public figures who have argued Biden should withdraw from the 2024 race following his disastrous debate performance that left some with concerns over his ability to beat Trump and carry out a second term.

"Nobody should be president when they're 85 or 86, including the ghost of Abraham Lincoln," Costas said. "But this guy is clearly in decline at this point. And part of the job, leaving aside whether he can do it for the next four years, is winning the job and as you just laid out that seems nearly impossible."

At 81, Biden is the oldest sitting U.S. president. If reelected this November, he would be 87 at the end of his second term.

Costas criticized Biden's reelection bid earlier this year, calling it a "hubris" campaign" in a February appearance on Max's "Real Time with Bill Maher."

He suggested at the time it is not a wise idea to make Biden the Democratic nominee and argued he should "be shown the door."

“If Biden’s hubris is such that he doesn’t understand the best interest of his party, and more importantly, his country, then he has to be shown the door, period,” Costas said in February.

Costas said Saturday he believes he was willing to say what others were scared to back in February and that his argument "became more overwhelmingly obvious with the debate performance."

"Biden had a chance to be seen by history as a statesman and a patriot. He spared the nation a second Trump term, he could have gone out in a gracious fashion. Now we can no longer indulge in his delusions," Costas said. "It's a shape. It's kind of a Shakespearean tragedy — perhaps with him as King Lear and his wife as Lady Macbeth — but that’s all secondary now. Precedent doesn’t matter now. ‘Oh, he is the incumbent.' He won all the votes in the primary because he had no opposition."

The Hill reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.
​

more at the link

 

lol that would be Miranda Nazzaro

 

Private efforts to nudge Biden to step aside continue

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/15/politics/private-efforts-biden-step-aside/index.html

 

Biden has apparently lost Adam Schiff

Schiff Warned of Wipeout for Democrats if Biden Remains in Race
Representative Adam B. Schiff of California told attendees at a Democratic fund-raiser that the party would lose the Senate and miss a chance to take the House if the president did not drop out.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/16/...-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

excerpt:

Representative Adam B. Schiff, the California Democrat who is running for Senate, warned during a private meeting with donors on Saturday that his party was likely to suffer overwhelming losses in November if President Biden remained at the top of the ticket, according to two people with direct knowledge of Mr. Schiff’s remarks at the meeting.

If Mr. Biden remained, not only would he lose to former President Donald J. Trump, he could be enough of a drag on other Democratic candidates that the party would most likely lose the Senate and miss an opportunity to win control of the House, Mr. Schiff said at a fund-raiser in New York.

“I think if he is our nominee, I think we lose,” Mr. Schiff said during the meeting, according to a person with access to a transcription of a recording of the event. “And we may very, very well lose the Senate and lose our chance to take back the House.”
​

more at the link

 

Biden’s loss of Jewish support could cost Dems the presidency — and more

https://nypost.com/2024/07/16/opini...port-could-cost-dems-the-presidency-and-more/

 

Rep. Adam Schiff becomes 21st Democrat to call for Biden’s ouster

https://nypost.com/2024/07/17/us-ne...omes-21st-democrat-to-call-for-bidens-ouster/

excerpt:

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Wednesday became the 21st Democratic member of Congress to call for President Biden to abandon his 2024 run, adding mounting pressure to the oldest-ever commander-in-chief following a disastrous debate performance and bungled media interviews.

“Joe 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,” Schiff said in a statement. “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.”

“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” added the California Democrat, who is running for US Senate in November himself. “And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election."
​

more at the link

 

WaPo's coverage

https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/07/17/adam-schiff-biden-drop-out/

Rep. Adam Schiff calls on Biden to drop out of presidential race
Schiff joins 22 other congressional Democrats in calling for Biden’s exit, according to a Washington Post tally.
By Nicole Markus
July 17, 2024 at 1:44 p.m. EDT

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who is heavily favored to win California’s Senate race in November, called on President Biden on Wednesday to drop out of the presidential contest, becoming one of the highest-profile members of his party to urge Biden to abandon his bid.

In a statement, Schiff called Biden “one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history” but questioned his ability to defeat former president Donald Trump.

“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” Schiff said.

Schiff joins 22 other congressional Democrats in calling for Biden’s exit, according to a Washington Post tally. He is the first to do so publicly since a shooter attempted to assassinate Trump at a campaign rally and since the Republican National Convention began in Milwaukee.

Schiff is a close ally of former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has held the door open for Biden to step aside. He is a former House Intelligence Committee chairman and led the first House effort to impeach Trump.

In his statement, Schiff vowed to support whoever the nominee is, even if that ends up remaining Biden.


​