Biden campaign surrogates warn Dem defections having an ‘impact’
MILWAUKEE — Surrogates for the Biden-Harris campaign said Wednesday that the mutiny against the president — including calls by nearly two dozen members of Congress for him to step down — is taking a toll.
“I think there is an impact on the polls. I have heard from constituents and other voters distressed over … what they perceive as lack of unity in the Democratic Party,” Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) told The Post.
Earlier in the day, her colleague Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) reiterated his call for President Biden to step aside, saying it is “even more urgent.”
“He’s a dear colleague. I have so much respect and admiration for him. I will also say the President has been clear, he is not stepping down,” Escobar said about her colleague from Texas.
But Escobar glossed over Doggett’s concerns about Biden’s fitness for office and viability in the presidential election.
She and other Biden-Harris campaign surrogates tried to push back at jittery members of their own party without picking fights.
At least 21 congressional Democrats have publicly called on Biden to pass the baton, including Rep. Marie Glusenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), whose statement was less blunt but strongly indicated he should do so.
“Totally their right to do so. I hear it. I was in one of these [competitive] districts, but my thing is just get yourself ready to start doing work now once we get our nominee in,” Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told The Post.
“What are you gonna have a magical candidate fly down from somewhere that’s gonna fix all this — that’s the way this works,” he added. “I like a party that can express that. Once we can unify after we get out of Chicago, get to work.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Wednesday became the latest Democrat to call on Biden to drop out of the race after expressing concerns about the president in private.
“Our nation is at a crossroads. A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November,” he said in a statement.
Congress is in recess amid the Republican National Convention, but the internal rift over Biden within the Democratic Party is still festering as concerns over his mental acuity reach a fever pitch.
Earlier in the day, Walz, who is co-chair of the Democratic National Committee rules committee alongside Leah Daughtry, penned a letter to Democrats revealing plans to hold a virtual roll call for Biden at some point in early August.
Another letter had circulated among congressional Democrats expressing concerns that the DNC planned to virtual crown Biden the nominee in July — which could foil their bid to pressure him to step aside.
“This has just taken on a life of its own,” Walz said of that uproar. “There’s nothing nefarious here. And I think the one thing is it could have been a little bit better communicated.”
Escobar tried to downplay the divide and focus on where the party is united.
“We are absolutely united as Democrats in wanting to prevent Donald Trump from getting back into the White House. We are completely united in acknowledging how dangerous and terrifying Project 2025 is, which is their playbook for a second Trump administration,” she stressed.
Biden, 81, has repeatedly rebuffed calls to drop out of the race, contending that he is “firmly committed” to being the party’s presidential standard bearer in November and the best chance of defeating Trump.
“I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024,” he wrote in a letter to congressional Democrats earlier this month.
A recent AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that 65% of Democrats want Biden to withdraw and allow another nominee to take up the mantle.
