Biden has demonstrated his energy by maintaining an aggressive campaign schedule amid doubts among Democrats about whether he can mount a strong campaign against Trump. His second COVID-19 diagnosis comes as Democrats are once again calling for him to be removed from the race.
Schiff was the first Democrat to publicly suggest Biden field a new nominee since a gunman tried to assassinate Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, but Democrats continued to privately debate whether Biden was fit to run as the nominee while national attention was focused on the shooting that left one rally-goer dead and two seriously injured.
Schiff, a mega-fundraiser who led the initial House effort to impeach Trump, became the 23rd Democrat to call for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, bringing the intraparty debate over Biden’s eligibility back into the public spotlight.
Schiff, a former House Intelligence Committee chairman, is a close aide to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a widely respected party elder statesman who has known Biden for decades and is widely seen as one of the few Democrats who could persuade him to back down. Many House Democrats remain deeply concerned about Biden’s ability to beat Trump, and some are considering making their dissatisfaction public when they return to Washington next week, said multiple House Democrats and aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss their plans.
Biden has maintained that rank-and-file Democrats support him continuing in the race, but a poll conducted after his shaky performance in the June 27 debate with Trump found that between 40% and 65% of Democrats said the president should drop out of the race.
Time is running out to make a difference for the top Democratic contenders: The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday reaffirmed plans to hold a virtual roll call for Biden’s nomination in the first week of August, about two weeks before the party’s convention begins.
In a statement, Schiff called Biden “one of the most significant presidents in our nation’s history” but questioned his ability to defeat Trump. “A second term for President Trump would undermine the very foundations of our democracy,” he said.
Schiff, a fierce critic of President Trump and a member of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, has long positioned himself as a defender of democratic norms. But he no longer seems to see Biden as the party’s best standard-bearer in that fight.
“While it is President Biden’s choice whether to step back from the campaign trail, I believe the time has come to hand the baton to the president,” Schiff said.
In an emailed statement, the Biden campaign argued that the incumbent has “broad support” from members of Congress, including in battleground states, and “voices across the party.” In a letter to congressional Democrats last week, Biden said he remains “firmly committed” to continuing his campaign.
“I can answer all of this loud and clear: If I didn’t believe, absolutely, that I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024, I wouldn’t run again,” Biden said.
In a statement, Schiff vowed to support whoever the Democratic nominee is, even if it turns out to be Biden.
“There is only one goal: to defeat Donald Trump. The stakes are too high,” Schiff said.
Other prominent House Democrats who have urged Biden to step down include Reps. Jerry Nadler of New York and Adam Smith of Washington, the top Democrats on the Judiciary and Armed Services committees.
Biden said this month that only “God Almighty” could force him out. But in excerpts of the BET interview airing Wednesday night, he appeared to soften his stance, saying he would reconsider if his doctors asked him to. Biden also said he initially planned to run as an interim candidate and “hand it over to somebody else,” but that he doesn’t think the job he set out to do is done.
“Frankly, I think the only thing you get with age is a little bit of wisdom,” Biden said in the interview. “I think I’ve shown that I know how to get things done for our country, even though people have told me I can’t. But there’s still a lot of work to be done, and I’m reluctant to give that up.”
The Washington Post reported Monday that Democratic lawmakers and strategists are concerned that Biden is only being advised by a small group of close aides, limiting the scope and type of information he receives.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said Biden has a “balanced team” of advisers who are “telling the truth and putting the well-being of the American people first.”
Schiff’s call for Biden to resign marks a shift from views he expressed in an interview with Post op-ed columnist Karen Tumulty in February, shortly before he won California’s primary to fill a vacant Senate seat.
Schiff dismissed suggestions that Democrats were in danger of losing their Senate majority, predicting instead that Trump would unseat the party’s nominee.
“When autumn comes, [voters are] “They’re going to be exhausted by the drama and the trauma of Trump,” Schiff said. “They’re going to not want another four years of that soul-crushing divisiveness in the White House. … They shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that he could really drag down their entire party.”
Leigh Ann Caldwell, Tolus Olorunnipa, Tyler Pager, Michael Scherer, Marianna Sotomayor and Patrick Svitek contributed to this report.
