“EI look forward to returning to the campaign trail next week,” said Joe Biden, who has been in retirement in his home state of Delaware after contracting Covid-19 this week, in a statement.
Biden’s campaign announced his return to the field in a statement attacking the “bleak vision” that former President Donald Trump outlined for the country in his acceptance speech for the Republican nomination last night at the party’s convention in Milwaukee.
“Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will defeat him at the ballot box,” Biden said.
“The stakes are high and the choice is clear. Together, we will prevail,” he added.
The announcement also comes as pressure has mounted for Biden to end his bid for re-election, with six more Democratic members of Congress publicly calling on the president today to “pass the baton” to someone younger.
With these six Democrats, the number of members of Congress calling for Biden’s withdrawal rises to 31, almost 12% of the members of the lower house and the Senate who make up the Democratic caucus.
Of the 31 leading the revolt, 28 are congressmen and three are senators.
The first to call for Biden’s withdrawal today was Sean Casten of Illinois, who in an opinion column in the Chicago Tribune titled “It’s Time to Pass the Baton,” said that although “it breaks his heart to say it (…), the President is no longer fit for the job.”
Shortly afterward, in a joint statement, four other Democrats urged Biden to similarly “pass the baton to a new generation of Democratic leaders.”
While they express their “great admiration” for Biden, they admit there is concern among the public about the 81-year-old head of state’s “age and fitness” to govern the country for another four years and defeat Trump in November.
“We believe the most responsible and patriotic thing for him to do at this time is to withdraw as our candidate while continuing to lead our party from the White House,” they said in the statement.
Among the lawmakers signing the statement is African-American Marc Veasey, a Texas representative and the first member of the group of African-American elected representatives in Congress to turn his back on Biden, which opened a rift in what has been the President’s strongest support bloc in Washington.
Also signing the letter are Hispanic Jesús ‘Chuy’ García, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, as well as Marc Pocan of Wisconsin and Jared Huffman of California, an ally of influential Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Later, Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico urged Biden to “pass the baton” to allow the party to unite behind a candidate capable of defeating Trump, becoming the third member of the Senate to call for the president’s recall.
“This moment in our nation’s history demands a vision that goes beyond any one individual. Donald Trump’s return to the White House poses an existential danger to our democracy. We must defeat him in November, and we need a candidate who can do it,” Heinrich said.
This influx of lawmakers increases pressure on Biden, who has seen his support among senior party figures waver in recent hours.
As reported Thursday by The Washington Post, former President Barack Obama told his inner circle that Biden should “seriously reconsider” his candidacy.
The call for Biden to withdraw came after the June 27 debate against Trump, in which the head of state, who at 81 is the oldest president in the country’s history, projected an aged image and had difficulty finishing some sentences.
Read Also: Second Democratic senator calls for Biden to drop out of candidacy
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2601460/biden-vai-retomar-campanha-apos-mais-de-30-democratas-pedirem-que-desista
