Connecticut Congressman Jim Himes on Thursday became the latest Democratic lawmaker to publicly call on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.
Rep. Himes, a ranking member in the House Intelligence Committee, took to X in the wake of Biden’s hour-long NATO press conference Thursday evening to join the chorus of party officials asking the 81-year-old president to suspend his re-election bid.
“I hope President Biden will step away from the presidential campaign,” said Himes, a 15-year House veteran representing Connecticut’s 4th District. "I hope that, as he has throughout a lifetime of public service, he will continue to put our nation first and, as he promised, make way for a new generation of leaders."
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Voicing concerns about the future of American democracy, Himes said Democrats “must put forth the strongest candidate possible to confront the threat posed by Trump's promised MAGA authoritarianism” — and Biden, he believes, is no longer that candidate.
"I know that I'm unpopular in lots of quarters, because I'm asking us to step away from the love and the loyalty and just say that the numbers suggest that we're going to lose," Himes later said on MSNBC. "I will not stand silent as I see a trajectory to an electoral loss that leads to the presidency of Donald Trump and all that He has promised."
Pressure for Biden to end his 2024 campaign has been mounting since his shaky debate performance last month against former president and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
But on Thursday night, during his first post-debate news conference, Biden who is slated to become the party's official nominee at the Democratic National Convention next month, rebuked the recent calls to pass the torch and reiterated his intention to stay in the race.
“I gotta finish this job, because there’s so much at stake," he said during the highly anticipated press appearance, telling reporters he believed he was the most qualified candidate to win. "I beat him once, and I will beat him again."
Gov. Ned Lamont wouldn't go as far as Himes in publicly urging Biden to back out of the race, but did indicate he agreed.
"We agree with an awful lot of stuff, maybe we try and influence the decision in different ways but i think we come to the same conclusion," he said after an unrelated press conference in West Haven.
When reporters pressed on whether it'd be wrong to say he wants Biden to step out, Lamont instead tried to make contrasts between Biden and Trump.
"He got NATO unified, the 75th anniversary, keeping the continent and keeping us safe for 75 years, the other guy would do just the opposite," Lamont said.
