Pocan joins list of congressional Dems calling for Biden to exit race

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The list of Democrats calling for President Joe Biden to end his re-election bid grew to include two lawmakers from Wisconsin Friday, including Congressman Mark Pocan. 

Pocan joined three other Democratic congressmen in sending President Biden a joint letter Friday morning. Pocan, Rep. Chuy Garcia of Illinois, Rep. Jared Huffman of California and Rep. Marc Veasey of Texas called on Biden to step aside and make way for someone else atop the Democratic ticket this fall.

"We must face the reality that widespread public concerns about your age and fitness are jeopardizing what should be a winning campaign," the letter read. “Passing the torch would fundamentally change the trajectory of the campaign.”

Pocan sent the letter exactly two weeks after appearing with Mr. Biden in Madison, where the former president made a campaign stop the week after poor debate performance left Democratic donors and lawmakers worried the president could no longer handle the rigors of being president.

With Friday's joint letter, along with other lawmakers releasing statements calling for the president to drop out of the race, more than 30 Democratic members of Congress have now called for Mr. Biden to not run again, according to CNN.

Biden defiantly said during that Wisconsin visit he had no plans of ending his campaign. On Friday, Kevin Munoz, a senior spokesperson for the Biden-Harris campaign, said nothing had changed since then from the president's perspective.

"Look, the president shares the goal of so many elected officials, so many Americans in the goal to beat Donald Trump," Munoz said. "And that is exactly why Joe Biden is committed to staying in this race and running to win this November. The stakes are too high."

Later in the day, State Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) also posted a statement calling for Mr. Biden to step aside. Roys praised the president's accomplishments, such as allowing the federal government to negotiate the prices of some drugs for seniors, including insulin, as well as passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Beyond that, however, Roys said she worried Biden's gaffes and his poor performance in the June debate convinced her there are better options for Democrats.

"This is too dangerous a situation, in terms of our rights and our freedoms, to not pay attention to the polls," Roys said. "Which show President Biden, unfortunately, is losing ground with the very narrow sliver of voters that are going to decide this election."

The most recent Marquette Law School from June showed President Biden and Mr. Trump tied 50% to 50% in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup. When including third-party candidates, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mr. Trump led President Biden 43% to 40%. The poll was taken before Mr. Biden struggled through last month's debate against Mr. Trump.

Roys' statement said she felt questions about Mr. Biden's vigor and focus had become insurmountable. Despite that, Roys said she would still campaign for Mr. Biden if she stayed in the race.

"I will enthusiastically vote for whoever our nominee is because that is the way to beat Trump," Roys said. "But I do think we will have a much better chance if we have a different nominee.

Reporting from national outlets has stated Mr. Biden could announce the end of his candidacy as early as Sunday. Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson said on Wednesday he believed the president would drop out of the race within the next 10 days.

Munoz insisted those predictions will be proven wrong and said he appreciated Roys' pledge to help the campaign, even if Mr. Biden remains the Democratic nominee.

"It's encouraging to hear that [Roys] is gonna campaign for him if he's the nominee because he is the nominee," Munoz said.