U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff (D-28) addressing the 2019 California Democratic Party State Convention at the George R. Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, June 1, 2019. (Photo: Gage Skidmore)
Congressman Adam Schiff Becomes Latest California Lawmaker To Call For Biden To Step Down From 2024 Presidential Race
Over 20 Congressional Democrats are now against Biden running
By Evan Symon, July 17, 2024 4:40 pm
Congressman and Senate candidate Adam Schiff (D-CA) announced on Wednesday that he is now calling on President Joe Biden to drop his 2024 Presidential reelection bid, citing concerns that Biden may not be able to beat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.
The California Democratic delegation, by far the largest in the House, had been firm in the support of Biden for several weeks following his disastrous June debate against Trump. That was until early last week, when California had their first Congressional member to break away from the party – Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) of Riverside. However, many lawmakers continued to withhold on outright calling for Biden to step aside, with many waiting on Biden’s next press conference.
Biden gave his press conference last Thursday, and made it error prone like previous appearances, leading many more Democrats to drop out of support despite Biden trying to remain defiant. By the next day, 19 Congressional Democrats, as well as one Senator, have joined the growing movement of withdrawing support for Biden. This included two more from California, Congressmen Mike Levin (D-CA) and Scott Peters (D-CA), from both Orange County and San Diego County respectively.
While more were expected to announce during the weekend, the assassination attempt of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania seemed to halt planned announcements, with the push against Biden to drop out taking a back seat for the next several days. However, with the RNC starting up on Monday, calls for Biden to drop out resumed. The President has reportedly been frustrated and angry with the calls to drop out cropping back up again. Going into Wednesday, Biden had only a 38.4% approval rating and was behind Trump by 2% in aggregate polling.
Then on Wednesday, Schiff, who had been undecided on his support of Biden in the election, announced that he was calling for him to step aside in the race, become the 2oth member of Congress, the 4th Californian Representative, and, so far, the highest ranking Democrat to do that. In a statement, Schiff said that he was concerned that Biden may not be able to beat Trump again this coming November due in part because of the post-debate fallout.
“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” said Schiff on Wednesday. “He has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history, and his lifetime of service as a Senator, a Vice President, and now as President has made our country better. But 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.”
Schiff’s announcement on Wednesday has, like all previous announcements by those calling for Biden to step aside, been polarizing amongst Democrats. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who is a close ally of Schiff and has yet to make an announcement supporting Biden to stay in the race, has been silent on the matter as of Wednesday afternoon. Also silent has been Biden.
However, his Senate race opponent, former baseball star Steve Garvey (R) has not been silent. In a statement on Wednesday, Garvey said that Schiff’s announcement didn’t go far enough, and that Biden needs to resign now, and not simply pull out of the race.
“Adam Schiff’s call for President Biden not to run for re-election doesn’t go far enough,” said Garvey on X. “It’s not just about the next election; it’s about the current governance. President Biden should resign immediately for the good of the nation. Under his leadership, we are facing unprecedented international threats, including the ongoing war in Ukraine, the conflict in Israel, and increasing dangers from Iran. Our country deserves leadership that can effectively address these challenges and restore stability at home and abroad. Schiff not demanding his resignation imperils Americans at home and abroad every day.”
➡️@ADAMSCHIFF DOESN'T GO FAR ENOUGH, JOE BIDEN MUST RESIGN
While being interviewed by @Elex_Michaelson on @FOXLA on July 2, I said @JoeBiden should resign.
Adam called upon Biden to not seek reelection today – but that doesn't go far enough.
My full statement:
Adam Schiff's call… pic.twitter.com/PAm327pFRa— Steve Garvey (@SteveyGarvey6) July 17, 2024
Others told the Globe on Wednesday that Schiff’s support would likely influence more Democrats to join in against Biden and push for another candidate instead.
“Schiff is a big name Democrat, and he brought talk of Biden potentially dropping out to the front page of the news for the first time since before the assassination attempt” explained San Diego area pollster Gale Martin to the Globe. “Biden was hoping for more of a grace period, but Schiff had obviously already made up his mind. Based on the timing, he may have wanted to announce this weekend but couldn’t.
“This plus Biden getting tested positive for COVID today was a big set back for the Biden campaign. They’re fighting to say that Democrats are united behind him and that he’s healthy. For the latter, he has previously said that the only way he would drop out is a major health concern. Well, there goes those two points. The Biden campaign is floundering to do damage control right now. And with Schiff now on the drop out train, it’s going to get worse for Biden as the week continues.”
More Democrats are expected to make decisions on their support for or against Biden soon.
- Derek Tran Leads Rep. Michelle Steel by 500 Votes for 45th District House Seat - November 23, 2024
- Sacramento Mayoral Race Remains Too Close To Call Between McCarty, Cofer - November 22, 2024
- 2024 Election Was Major Success for California GOP as State Senate Leaders Celebrate Major Gains - November 22, 2024
Garvey is not thinking clearly. Biden is a very weak candidate. We don’t want him to drop out. We need Trump to win. If Trump doesn’t win, this country will likely not survive another four years of Democrat rule.
You are right, Protect Freedom. Garvey needs to fire his consultants if they are the ones giving him this kind of advice. But, then again, it may be Garvey himself who is the problem. There is a rumor that his campaign is out fund raising Schiff. Hard to believe. Garvey was wrong-thinking as a baseball player and it seems to be carrying over to his politics.
Since the debate, the Dems can’t lie anymore about Biden’s mental decline and now they want him out. Biden’s been in decline for years. His wife knew this, and Kamala Harris knew it too. This has got to be one of the biggest coverups in our history. The White House has gone to great lengths to hide this from the American people and world. Some day, we’ll find out how they did this and who was really running the country.
Why are there republicans trying to help the left remove him?!
Let them sit in their mud to election day – because Biden is not going to win over Trump, so why help them, its bad enough how they cheat elections already
I agree with Garvey. Schiff is lying as usual. It’s not because Biden “can’t win”- it’s because the president has dementia and someone else is running the country. It’s about our country, not politics. Removing Biden through resignation or the 25th Amendment will EXPOSE all the lying liars and their enablers who KNEW Biden’s condition was getting worse, that someone else was making decisions, and did nothing. Democrats want to bury this- the fact that Biden has had only 6 full cabinet meetings in 3 1/2 years, that he is hidden every weekend for treatment, that insiders covered it up, just to retain power, and then exercised power in unlawful ways.
If you want to just talk politics- how would Harris handle questions about having lunch with Biden “once a week” but observing nothing troubling? About “working closely” with Biden every day but never questioning his competence? About seeing him at the debate, but never discussing it with him? She’s toast.