“We must face the reality that widespread public concerns about your age and fitness are jeopardizing what should be a winning campaign. 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. 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. Mr President, you have always put our country and our values first. We call on you to do it once again, so that we can come together and save the country we love,” says the tail end of a joint statement from Dem Congressmen Jared Huffman of California, Marc Veasey of Texas, Chuy Garcia of Illinois, and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin.
Punchbowl’s Max Cohen notes Veasey signing on is particularly significant as he’s a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, which was supposed to be a big piece of Biden’s firewall. It’s not clear off the bat if any of these guys are “frontliners,” but Pocan could be because Wisconsin.