Fifth House Democrat calling for Biden to step aside

Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) called on President Biden to step out of the 2024 race in a statement posted to social platform X Saturday.

"I have great respect for President Biden's decades of service to our nation and his steadfast commitment to making our country a better place,” Craig said in the statement.

"However, given what I saw and heard from the President during last week's debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the President himself following that debate, I do not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against [former President] Donald Trump,” Craig said later in the statement. 

Craig now joins fellow House Democrats Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) in publicly calling for Biden to withdraw from the race in the wake of a rough presidential debate performance last week. Biden stumbled over his words and his voice sounded raspy during the debate.

"This is not a decision I've come to lightly, but there is simply too much at stake to risk a second Donald Trump presidency. That's why I respectfully call on President Biden to step aside as the Democratic nominee for a second term as President and allow for a new generation of leaders to step forward,” Craig said in her statement Saturday.

"Our party has an extraordinary number of talented leaders within it,” Craig continued. “I believe this is an opportunity to put forward an open, fair, and transparent Democratic process to select a new nominee to inspire and unite our great nation.”

Biden pushed back on calls to drop out of the race during an interview with ABC Friday.

“If the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race. The Lord Almighty’s not comin’ down,” Biden said.