AUSTIN, Texas — Calls for President Biden to step aside in the race for reelection began after his poor debate performance in June. But the first public call from a sitting Congressional Democrat for it came from a Texan.
House Democrat Lloyd Doggett, who represents a portion of Austin, said on July 2 that the president should “make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw.”
That came just days after the debate between Biden and former President Trump in which Biden, at times, appeared to lose his train of thought. While Biden said he had been battling a cold, some in his party wondered publicly if he could beat Trump in November. After Doggett, more Democrats joined the call for the president to drop out of the race.
On Sunday, Biden announced his plans to not seek reelection and instead put his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Shortly after, Doggett posted the following to X, calling Biden’s decision a “courageous action,” while calling for a "fair, open, and democratic process" to determine the party's nominee.
The full thread is below.
“Once again President Biden comes through for America, putting country over ego in a way that Donald Trump never could. Now we must move forward to offer a nominee, who can win over disaffected voters and energize Democrats.
I continue to urge a fair, open, and democratic process to select the nominee best able to convince battleground voters to reject Trump’s dark, retribution-fueled plans.
While, with President Biden’s endorsement, Vice President Harris is clearly the leading candidate, we should be open to all talented individuals, who wish to be considered.
When I respectfully called for President Biden to step aside almost three weeks ago, I recognized that this would be a painful and difficult decision, not unlike that faced long ago under different circumstances by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Today’s courageous action caps decades of selfless service and opens the door to a Convention that can build on our progress and prevent a takeover of our country by Trump and his gang.”