U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX 33rd District) of Fort Worth is joining a growing list of congressional members calling on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.
Veasey and fellow Reps. Jared Huffman (D-CA), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), and Mark Pocan (D-WI) sent a letter to the president Friday morning, saying growing concern about his age and fitness jeopardize "what should be a winning campaign" and asked him to "pass the torch to a new generation of Democratic leaders."
“These perceptions may not be fair, but they have hardened in the aftermath of last month's debate and are now unlikely to change. We believe the most responsible and patriotic thing you can do in this moment is to step aside as our nominee while continuing to lead our party from the White House," the four wrote. "Democrats have a deep and talented bench of younger leaders, led by Vice President Kamala Harris, who you have lifted up, empowered, and prepared for this moment. Passing the torch would fundamentally change the trajectory of the campaign. It would reinvigorate the race and infuse Democrats with enthusiasm and momentum heading into our convention next month.”
In their letter, the representatives said Biden has always prioritized the country and were calling on him to do the same again to defeat Donald Trump and "save democracy."
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Veasey is the first member of the Congressional Black Caucus to ask Biden to withdraw from the race, but he is the second House Democrat from Texas to do so. While many Texas Democrats remain split, last week, 77-year-old U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX 35th District) of Austin was the first Democrat on record saying Biden should “make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw.”
In response to the letter, a Biden campaign official pointed to a previous statement on MSNBC's Morning Joe.
“You have heard from the president directly time and again: He is in this race to win, and he is our nominee, and he's going to be our president for a second term.”
The Biden campaign also pointed out that he was endorsed by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s political arm, BOLD PAC, on Friday and was joined on the campaign trail earlier this week by nearly a dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
If Biden does drop out and the Democratic Party has an open convention in August in Chicago, the Texas delegation will have a lot of say. It's one of the largest delegations in the country.
NBC 5's Phil Prazan contributed to this report.
