Highest-ranking Democrat to demand Biden step down goes public with brutal message… and reveals who should be his replacement
Democratic Congressman Adam Smith is calling on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race so that Democrats can defeat Donald Trump in November, saying Vice President Kamala Harris would be a better choice.
Smith is the highest-ranking member of the House of Representatives to speak out so far, amid questions about the president’s fitness to serve a second term after his disastrous performance during last month’s debate.
“President Biden should end his candidacy for a second term as president and release his delegates to the Democratic National Convention so the party can nominate a new candidate for president,” Smith said in a statement Monday afternoon.
“This must be done as quickly as possible so that the new ticket has maximum time to make its case to the American people,” he continued.
Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) publicly called on Biden to step aside, saying in an interview with CNN that he believes Vice President Harris is a stronger candidate to defeat Trump
Smith argued that it would be a “mistake” for Biden to continue his campaign and that leaving the race now would give Democrats the opportunity to find a candidate who “in the strongest possible position to defeat Donald Trump in November.’
Smith also appeared on CNN Monday afternoon, where he implored Biden’s supporters to put aside their personal feelings for the president, telling Jake Tapper that he thinks Harris is a better option.
“I personally think Kamala Harris would be a much better, stronger candidate,” Smith said. “And because she’s constitutionally his second, that’s the way it’s supposed to work.”
He said that they participated in this election as a team from the beginning.
Smith also argued that Democrats have a strong campaigning record and praised the president’s first term, but he worried about communicating that record to voters.
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House on July 4, 2024
Smith is the highest-ranking House Democrat to call on Biden to step aside so far. He said Democrats have a strong track record to lean on, but the president is “not able to get that message across.”
“We have a good message,” Smith said. “The president has shown himself unable to deliver that message effectively.”
Smith had concerns leading up to the presidential debate performances, and things haven’t gotten any better since. He lashed out at Biden and said any “good debater” would have been able to respond to Trump.
The Democratic lawmaker said Biden’s campaign strategy of staying quiet and playing by the rules is not working right now.
He also pushed back against Biden’s comments during a phone interview Monday morning on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, saying it’s the “elites” who are trying to get rid of him.
Smith argued that those people put him in office in the first place. He pointed out that Biden lost Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada in the 2020 primaries, but that there was a “nationwide movement” to make him the nominee over Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Smith is one of a handful of Democrats in Congress calling for Biden to step aside from the presidential race. He first made his case for Biden to withdraw during a private call with colleagues over the weekend.
But on Monday, Biden sent a letter to members of Congress urging him to stay in the 2024 race and vowing to defeat Trump.
“I would not run for re-election if I were not absolutely convinced that I am the best person to defeat Donald Trump in 2024,” he wrote.