Biden Digs In as More Dems Call for Him to Drop Out

Ten more Democrats added their names Friday to the list of lawmakers calling on President Joe Biden to step aside as their party’s nominee in the November election. The tally of Democratic members of Congress publicly asking Biden to step aside now tops 30, including three senators. The latest defections include Sen. Martin Heinrich, who is running for reelection in New Mexico, and Rep. Marc Veasey of Texas, the first member of the Congressional Black Caucus to jump ship.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, an ally of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, joined the group as she released a letter she sent to the president outlining her concerns about the risk of losing the election, which she said is looking likely according to the polls.

“As a Member of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol I know, perhaps as well as anyone, how unsuitable Donald Trump is to be President,” she wrote. “His character is unprincipled and corrupt. He remains as grave a threat to the Constitutional order and rule of law that he was on January 6, 2021 when he incited insurrection. And, if he is elected President again, he will dismantle all that Democrats have achieved for the American people.”

A megadonor says Biden’s time is up: More major donors are pushing Biden to step down, as well, including Michael Moritz, a billionaire tech investor. “Sadly, President Biden has a choice — vanity or virtue,” he told The New York Times Friday. “He can either condemn the country to dark and cruel times or heed the voice of Father Time. The clock has run out.”

Biden's camp says he's still running: Even as speculation swirls about when Biden might surrender to the pressure, the president insisted that he will return to the campaign trail next week and his campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that he is “absolutely” staying in the race and “he’s in it to win it.” She acknowledged, though, that support for the president has slipped. “We have a lot of work to do to reassure the American people that, yes, he’s old, but he can win,” she said.

The bottom line: The Democratic National Convention is now one month away, and the party is still looking to hold a virtual roll call vote before then to choose its nominee. This weekend could be pivotal. The intraparty clash is expected to intensify further this weekend as a defiant Biden, isolating with Covid at his Delaware beach house, weighs his path forward and Democrats who have lost confidence in his ability to win step up their efforts to oust him from the ticket.