California Rep. Mark Takano on Saturday publicly urged President Joe Biden to drop out of the race against former President Donald Trump, and instead allow Vice President Kamala Harris to helm the ticket.
Takano is the thirty-sixth Democrat on Capitol Hill to call on Biden to exit the race on the record, though dozens of others have reportedly aired their concerns privately.
“President Biden’s greatest accomplishment remains saving democracy in 2020. He can and must do so again in 2024 — by passing the torch to Vice President Harris as the Democratic Party Presidential nominee,” Takano said in a statement.
“It has become clear to me that the demands of a modern campaign are now best met by the Vice President, who can seamlessly transition into the role of our party’s standard bearer,” he said.
Earlier in July, Takano was one of several Democratic committee ranking members who voiced his concerns about Biden’s reelection bid in a private meeting with House Democratic leadership.
His Saturday statement officially places him in the growing camp of Democratic lawmakers asking Biden to step aside.
Takano has also positioned himself within the sect of the party that sees Harris as the rightful heir to the top of the ticket, along with the campaign’s war chest of at least $91 million. Other Democrats have been angling for an open convention.
Since Bien’s stumbling June 27 debate flub against Trump, looming concerns about his age and ability to win in November have left deep cracks within the Democratic Party. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers, donors and strategists have called on him to drop out, despite his defiant commitment to stay in the race.
Some of Biden’s allies are staying out of the pressure campaign, instead backing whatever path forward the president settles on.
Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for example, have remained “deferential” on Biden’s decision to keep his campaign alive, two people familiar with the Clintons’ thinking told NBC News on Saturday.
The Clintons have actively tried to maintain donors’ support for Biden and have told the White House that they would help however they can, the people said.
While the Democratic rifts widen, the president is still isolating with Covid in Rehoboth Beach, Del.
The Biden campaign has continued to publicly and defiantly reject the heightening drop-out pressure, pledging that the president will remain in the race and return to the campaign trail when he is Covid-free.
“As soon as we have the green light, we are going to be back out on the stump,” Biden campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler told reporters Saturday morning.
Tyler said that Biden is expected to get back to campaigning “in earnest” next week.
Biden on Saturday had completed his sixth round of the antiviral Covid treatment, Paxlovid, and was recovering “steadily,” according to an update from his doctor, Kevin O’Connor.
In the meantime, Harris is shouldering the campaign’s message.
On Saturday, she is set to deliver remarks at a campaign fundraiser in Massachusetts. On Friday, Harris joined a call with Democratic donors where she doubled down on her support for Biden, according to NBC News.
“We know which candidate in this election puts the American people first: our President, Joe Biden,” she said. “We are going to win this election. We are going to win.”
