Top Democrat Adam Smith told DailyMail.com on Tuesday that he had concerns about Biden’s cognitive abilities based on personal interactions ahead of the debate.
But the 90-minute battle with Donald Trump last month confirmed his belief that Biden was no longer fit for office.
“Ultimately this is Joe Biden’s decision,” Smith said.
“Joe Biden is the presumptive nominee. He is not the nominee. I’m going to keep making that argument because I feel so strongly about it. As long as that’s the case.”
But the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee stressed that it is President Biden’s responsibility to avoid disaster for Democrats in November by resigning, saying a challenge at the party convention would be too “divisive” to work.
“A (congressional) challenge would, in my view, be a pointless, divisive exercise,” he continued.
His comments came after Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) became the seventh Democrat in the House of Representatives to publicly call for Biden to withdraw, even as party leaders continued to insist he would be their nominee.
“Because I know President Biden has deep concerns about the future of our country, I am asking him to declare that he will not seek re-election and to assist us in the process of identifying a new nominee,” Sherrill said in a statement.
Top Democrat Adam Smith stressed that it is President Biden’s responsibility to avoid disaster for Democrats in November by stepping aside, saying a challenge to the convention would be too “divisive” to work.
Smith is one of seven Democrats in Congress who broke ranks and publicly called on the president to drop the 2024 nomination after the disastrous debate in which he at one point claimed to have “finally defeated Medicare.”
Two others made similar statements during a phone call with House Democrats that was subsequently leaked to reporters.
“The concerns I had leading up to the meeting were greatly reinforced by the debate. That debate led me to believe that we would be better off (without him),” Smith said.
House Democrats, who are usually united, now find themselves in the chaos that Republicans often face.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., is the seventh Democrat in the House of Representatives to openly call for Biden to withdraw, even as party leaders continue to insist he will be their nominee.
The top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee told DailyMail.com he had concerns about Biden’s cognitive abilities based on personal interactions before the debate
Last month’s 90-minute confrontation with Donald Trump ‘crystallized’ his belief that Biden was no longer fit for office
Some have continued to back Biden, arguing that the obstacles to replacing him are too great to handle. Others have increased pressure on the president without directly calling for him to resign in public.
“While President Biden has made it clear that he believes he is the best candidate to win this election, nothing that has happened over the past 12 days indicates that voters see things the same way,” Rep. Lori Trahan, a member of the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives, said in a statement Tuesday.
Smith, meanwhile, said it was “unlikely” that anything Biden said would change his mind.
“I think it would have been helpful in the immediate aftermath of the debate if a doctor would do a completely transparent, you know, health care, complete audit, and make that information public. Because then you come out and have an hour-long press conference and say, hey, you know, a lot of things are going on, brain fog hit me at a bad time. I’m good. Let’s go. I think that would have been helpful. First of all, they didn’t do it. Multiple days went by.”
But Biden has forged an unlikely alliance with the far left. Progressives like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar have declared they are “all in” for Biden.
On Monday, the White House tried to reassure reporters that Biden’s health is good, despite the president having undergone multiple visits from a neurologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
“My team is doing everything we can to make sure we can give you the answers,” press officer Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “To say that I am withholding information or to refer to something else is really, really unfair.”
She said Biden has seen a neurologist “three times, no more” as part of his usual annual medical exam, but she would not detail the White House visits, which he cited from visitor logs, citing privacy rules and the thousands of staff members who are treated at the White House.
The president sought to further bolster his support by convening a meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) on Capitol Hill on Monday night, as his support among black voters waned.
The first elected Democrat to cut ties with Biden was Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett.
On July 2, just five days after Biden’s disastrous performance at the CNN debate, Doggett released a statement calling on the president to withdraw from the race.
Doggett, a veteran Democrat who has been running since 1995, wrote that Biden promised to be a “transition candidate.” He said the president has made good on his promise and should end his candidacy.
A day later, on July 3, Arizona Congressman Raúl Grijalva told the New York Times that he too believes Joe Biden should withdraw from the race.
“If he is the candidate, I will support him, but I think this is an opportunity to look elsewhere,” Grijalva said.
“What he needs to do is take responsibility for keeping that seat. And part of that responsibility is to get out of this race.”
The next day, Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, also called on Biden to withdraw.
“President Biden has done an incredible service to our country, but now it is time for him to follow in the footsteps of one of our founding fathers, George Washington, and step aside so new leaders can rise up and take on Donald Trump,” he told local media WBUR.
On July 5, Illinois Congressman Mike Quigley called for Biden’s withdrawal on MSNBC, one of the president’s favorite networks.
Additionally, on July 6, Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota posted on X that she also wants Biden gone.
“President Biden is a good man and I appreciate his lifetime of service,” she wrote. “But I believe he must step aside for the next generation of leaders. The stakes are too high.”
Then on Sunday, during a private meeting among some Democrats in the House of Representatives, the dam protecting Biden as the presumptive nominee broke further.
Democratic Reps. Mark Takano of California, Jerry Nadler and Joe Morelle of New York, and Adam Smith of Washington all indicated at the conference that they want Biden to step aside.
On Monday, Smith called on Biden to resign.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have both insisted they will continue to support Biden.