On Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff called on President Joe Biden to step aside and allow another Democrat to run. Later, the Washington Post reported that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have “told Biden his continued candidacy imperils the Democratic Party’s ability to control either chamber of Congress next year.”
The Post report said the conversations happened in “separate private meetings” last week.
“In the meetings, each congressional leader discussed their members’ concerns that Biden could deprive them of congressional majorities, giving Republicans a much easier path to push through legislation, according to four people briefed on the meetings who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private encounters,” the Washington Post reported.
What Adam Schiff said about Biden
Schiff, who is running for Senate in California, spoke to donors in East Hampton on Tuesday, where he reportedly said “I think if he is our nominee, I think we lose.”
“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch. And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election,” Schiff said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.
After the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, talk about Biden stepping aside appeared to quiet, but Schiff has now become one of the most prominent elected Democrats to call on Biden to drop out.
Schiff has long feuded publicly with Trump, especially during the former president’s first term in office, when Schiff was the impeachment manager during one of Trump’s impeachments. In his statement, according to CNN, Schiff brought up his concern that Trump could beat Biden in November.
“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.
Schiff said he would support whoever was the nominee in November, including Biden if he remains in the race.