Claims have surfaced suggesting that President Joe Biden, who performed poorly in the U.S. presidential candidate TV debate, should voluntarily step down. This is similar to the precedent set by the first President of the United States, George Washington. Although there were no term limits in the Constitution at the time, Washington stepped down voluntarily after his second term.
Democratic member of the House of Representatives from Massachusetts Seth Moulton appeared on WBUR, a radio broadcast in the Boston area. He argued, “Biden has made tremendous service for the United States, but now is the time to follow in the footsteps of Washington, one of the founding fathers.”
He added that Biden should step aside to allow new leaders to run against former President Donald Trump.
Following Biden’s frequent stutters and out-of-context remarks during his first TV debate with Trump, there have been continuous calls for candidate replacement within and outside the Democratic Party.
Following Moulton’s call for Biden to withdraw from seeking re-election, the number of Democratic lawmakers urging his withdrawal has increased to three. Before Moulton, Lloyd Doggett, a member of the House of Representatives from Texas, and Raul Grijalva, a member of the House of Representatives from Arizona, also urged Biden to abandon his re-election bid on the 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
Despite these calls, Biden has affirmed his decision to continue his candidacy.
During a meeting with Democratic governors on the 2nd, Biden expressed his determination to complete the election.
According to The New York Times (NYT), he mentioned during the meeting that he had pushed through his schedule without heeding his staff’s advice. He also expressed the need to reduce his working hours and avoid events after 8 PM.
According to the NYT, as a response to a health inquiry from doctor-turned-governor of Hawaii Josh Green, Biden said, “My health is fine. It’s just my brain.”
While most attendees took this comment as a joke, at least one governor reportedly found it surprising, according to NYT.
Jen O’Malley Dillon, the chair of the Biden presidential campaign, noted that Biden responded to the remarks by saying, “Enough with the jokes.” She then emphasized, “Biden clearly made a joke.”
