The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Jim Himes, called on President Biden to suspend his 2024 re-election campaign, just moments after the president finished his highly anticipated press conference.
Biden participated in a press conference with reporters at the end of the NATO summit in Washington D.C. on Thursday night.
Biden, during the press conference, was peppered with questions from reporters who pressed him on whether he would step aside amid mounting pressure from members within his own party following his disastrous debate performance last month.
Biden said he is ‘determined’ to stay in the race and maintained that he is fit to serve as president now and for the next four years.
But Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., sounded the alarm moments after the press conference concluded.
‘Joe Biden’s record of public service is unrivaled,’ Himes posted on X. ‘His accomplishments are immense. His legacy as a great president is secure.’
‘He must not risk that legacy, those accomplishments and American democracy to soldier on in the face of the horrors promised by Donald Trump,’ Himes posted on X.
In a statement, Himes continued that it has been ‘the honor’ of his career to work with Biden on ‘achievements that secured his remarkable legacy in American history.’
‘It is because of those traits, and in consideration of that legacy, that I hope President Biden will step away from the presidential campaign,’ Himes said.
A short time later, Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., also called on Biden to drop out of the race.
‘The stakes are high, and we are on a losing course,’ Peters said in a statement. ‘My conscience requires me to speak up and put loyalty to the country and to democracy ahead of my great affection for, and loyalty to, the President and those around him.’
Peters is the 16th Democrat in the House of Representatives to call on the president to step aside.
Biden, though, currently has the support of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.