The eleven House Democrats who say Biden needs to step aside

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Despite attempting to dig himself out of the political crisis that has engulfed him since his debate debacle, Joe Biden appears to become more entrenched with every swipe of the shovel.

Eleven House Democrats – six publicly, five privately – have so far called on the president to drop out of the race for the White House, as of Tuesday.

At least 18 current and former senior party members have publicly raised doubts over whether the 81-year-old could defeat Donald Trump come November due to his perceived cognitive decline.

While embattled, Biden has continued to stake his claim for office, making a string of public appearances to make the case he is still fit to be commander in chief.

On Monday, congressional Democrats received a two-page letter from the president laying out a united party vision. Sharing it on his X account, Biden declared that he is “firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump”.

It follows six senior House Democrats telling House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries – off the record – that they are calling on the president to step down during a two-hour call on Sunday in Washington.

This list, three sources told CNN, included Jerry Nadler, Adam Smith, Mark Takano, Joseph Morelle, Susans Wild, and Jim Hines. “It was pretty brutal,” a senior aide told the outlet.

Later on Monday, Smith told CNN’s Jake Tapper that Biden “should step aside”.

The consensus among those opposed to Biden remaining on November’s ballot seems to be that the party would be in better hands with vice president Kamala Harris instead, a source told the outlet.

Ahead of a busy week, including the preparation for hosting a Nato summit, Biden will continue to try and turn the tide on an increasingly despondent Democrat camp.

Here are the six House representatives who have publicly called for the president to stand aside.

Lloyd Doggett – Texas

Doggett, 77, became the first senior party member to break rank last Tuesday and call for Biden to give up the Democratic ticket to make way for a “new generation of leaders”.

It came just days after the president’s disaster debate performance against Donald Trump on June 27 which thrust his mental fitness under the spotlight.

Raúl Grijalva – Arizona

A day after Doggett called for Biden to step down as nominee Grijalva did the same. His rationale: Democrats need to be able to “put up a fight” against Trump, he told The New York Times.

“What he needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race,” the 76-year-old said.

Seth Moulton – Massachusetts

Last Wednesday, Moulton, 45, raised alarm bells that Biden would lose out to Trump come November. By Thursday he released a fully-fledged statement calling for the president to bow out.

After praising the president’s service to the country, he urged Biden to “step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump,” he said in an interview with WBUR.

Mike Quigley – Illinois

Quigley, 65, spoke with MSNBC following Biden’s Friday evening ABC interview where he declared only the “Lord almighty” could usher him away from office. Quigley retracted his support for Biden and called for him to step aside.

“The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this,” he told host Chris Hayes.

Angie Craig – Minnesota

Biden’s ABC interview was also a nail-in-coffin moment for Craig, 52, who gave the call on Saturday.

She maintained that she respected the incumbent president, however, does not believe he will be able to beat Trump come election time.

“If we truly believe that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans must be stopped, there is only a small window left to make sure we have a candidate best equipped to make the case and win,”  she said.

Adam Smith – Washington

After privately calling for Biden’s resignation on Sunday, 59-year-old Smith finally declared that the president should drop out in a CNN interview on Monday. He cited an inability for the incumbent to hammer home the party’s message to be the tipping point.

“Here’s the thing, we have an incredibly strong message… the president has shown he is not capable of delivering that message,” he told the outlet.

Smith also said he grew tired of the White House’s “be quiet, fall in line” message, which he added isn’t working.