WASHINGTON — Four new Democratic senators told fellow lawmakers on a conference call Sunday that they think President Joe Biden should step aside to allow someone else to become the party’s presidential nominee, according to multiple call participants and people familiar with the discussions.
House Democrats who have said Biden should withdraw from the election include Reps. Adam Smith of Washington, Jerry Nadler of New York, Mark Takano of California and Joe Morrell of New York.
All four senators serve on key committees, bringing the total number of Democrats who have called on Biden to reconsider running for president to nearly a dozen.
Smith is the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, along with Nadler on the Judiciary Committee, Takano on the Veterans Affairs Committee and Morrell on the House Administration Committee.
The four senators and the Biden campaign did not immediately comment on the call.
The conversation took place on a conference call hosted by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York on Sunday afternoon. The call, which lasted more than an hour, raised serious questions about Biden’s future as party leader, according to sources.
Lawmakers were given the opportunity to speak in order of seniority. Even those who didn’t explicitly call for Biden to leave expressed concern he was not the favorite to beat former President Donald Trump in November’s presidential election, another source said.
There was an overwhelming consensus among lawmakers that Vice President Kamala Harris was a better candidate than Biden and would be the natural choice to replace him if he dropped out of the race, other sources said.
Jeffries’ office declined to comment on the call.
Many of the lawmakers on the call stopped short of calling for a new nominee but expressed deep concern about Democrats’ chances of winning the November election with Biden as the front-runner, including Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Don Beyer of Virginia and Jim Himes of Connecticut.
The three senators serve as the highest-ranking Democrats on the Oversight, Joint Economic and Intelligence committees, respectively.
After the call, Beyer reiterated his support for Biden in a statement.
“I support President Biden,” he said. “I support the Biden-Harris combination and look forward to helping defeat Donald Trump in November.”
Raskin, Beyer and Himes did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Polls have shown concerns about Biden’s 81-year age has long been a top concern among voters, but his panned performance in the June 27 debate has sparked debate among lawmakers and donors about whether he is the best candidate to take on Trump, 78, in the fall. Democrats in Congress have publicly and privately expressed their concerns.
Some House Democrats in battleground states are considering whether to distance themselves from Biden.
Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pennsylvania, expressed concerns Sunday about campaigning with Biden, particularly about how his becoming the top candidate could affect lower-ranking Democrats like her, according to two people with knowledge of her remarks.
Wilde, who narrowly won reelection in 2022 with 51% of the vote, stopped short of calling on Biden to drop out of the race, the people said. Wilde is the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee.
Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., went further on Saturday, becoming the first front-line Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw.
“President Biden is a good man and I thank him for his lifetime of service,” she wrote to X. “But I believe he should step aside to make way for the next generation of leaders.”
Two sources told NBC News that while the Congressional Black Caucus is largely supportive of Biden, there are “small rifts” within the group.
Reps. Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee, both Democrats and Californians, forcefully defended Biden on Sunday’s call, just as they have done publicly since last month’s debate with Trump.
Meanwhile, Rep. Frederica Wilson of Florida, a Democrat, said in a statement Sunday afternoon that she supports Biden’s candidacy and criticized Democrats who have called for him to resign. Wilson, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, did not participate in Sunday’s call.
“Any ‘leader’ who calls for President Biden to retreat needs to get his priorities straight and stop disrespecting this incredible, real leader who has delivered real results for our country,” Wilson said in a statement.
Since the debate and Friday’s ABC News interview, Biden has remained defiant against calls to drop out of the race, repeatedly repeating that he remains in the race. During a visit to the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Sunday, he said “yes” when asked if Democrats were endorsing him.
Biden’s interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos on Friday did little to quiet discussion among congressional Democrats that he should drop out of the race.
In the interview, Biden rejected calls for him to resign, saying only “God Almighty” could make him reconsider.
“If the Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race,” he said. “The Almighty isn’t going to come down.”
