The first elected Democratic Party lawmaker to call for President Biden to ditch his re-election bid is insisting that there is no point in taking a risk on him running again when there is a "better alternative" among Democratic choices.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, appeared on CNN Wednesday to explain why he came out publicly to call for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race following the president’s much-maligned debate performance last week.
"My concern is that a criminal and his gang are about to take over our government and we may never get it back," Doggett said, warning of former President Trump’s return to office if Democrats don’t replace Biden as their nominee.
Doggett became the first elected Democratic lawmaker to call for Biden’s withdrawal on Tuesday, sharing a statement in which he commented on the president’s low polling and inability to move the needle following last Thursday’s presidential debate.
"President Biden has continued to run substantially behind Democratic senators in key states and in most polls has trailed Donald Trump. I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not. Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump's many lies," Doggett said.
Speaking to CNN anchor John Berman on Wednesday, he noted that Democrats need a candidate they can get excited about, and Biden is not that man.
"What we need is the enthusiasm and the excitement that has been missing there, that President Biden has lagged for a year behind Trump," he said, adding, "The debate, instead of adding momentum, added disappointment and disillusionment."
"The idea of having a new person who might excite all those double haters that there‘s another alternative out there and bring us together would give us a much better chance in the fall than we have right now."
The lawmaker then noted that as Biden’s approval further deteriorates post-debate, then more party leaders will distance themselves from him and "we will be in a very difficult position."
Doggett pointed to his career experience and the fact that he’s not currently in danger of being voted out of office as reasons why he feels comfortable calling out Biden like this.
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"I‘m not a new member of Congress. I‘m not starting my career and concerned about what might happen to it by taking a position that is different than the president. And I also am not the most endangered Democrat. So, I felt I was in a position to speak out about what I was hearing from so many of my colleagues and say, ‘We need a different course.’"
In response to Berman’s question about whether his view is that Biden can’t win re-election or that he can’t lead the country for four more years, the congressman said, "Well, I think the two are intertwined." He followed up by making sure to praise Biden’s first-term accomplishments.
He told Berman that if Biden wanted to "restore some confidence" in him among the voters, he’d be "out with journalists like you appearing on shows like this, to answer the tough questions, and to demonstrate by his conduct that he doesn‘t have to have a teleprompter for every occasion."
Still, Doggett insisted that picking someone else would be the best option. "I just think that some of the damage that was done in this debate will be very difficult to overcome. Why take a chance when there is a better alternative?"
Elsewhere in the interview, Doggett mentioned the pool from which Democrats could pull candidates from.
In addition to mentioning Vice President Harris, he noted there are "governors, talented United States senators," and "other members of the cabinet" to choose from.
"What we need is a fair and open process over the coming weeks to let the American people see this, develop the enthusiasm we haven‘t had, and get behind them."
