WASHINGTON — Four more Democrats in Congress told fellow lawmakers in a phone call Sunday that they believe President Joe Biden should step aside to allow someone else to be the party’s presidential nominee, according to multiple people on the call and familiar with the discussion.
House Democrats who said Biden should drop out of the race were Adam Smith of Washington, Jerry Nadler of New York, Mark Takano of California and Joe Morelle of New York.
The four lawmakers all hold senior positions on key committees and bring to nearly a dozen the number of Democrats in Congress who have called on Biden to reconsider running for president.
Smith is the leading Democrat on the Armed Services Committee. Nadler holds similar positions on the Judiciary Committee, Takano on the Veterans Affairs Committee and Morelle on the House Administration Committee.
The four lawmakers and the Biden campaign did not immediately comment on the call.
The conversation took place Sunday afternoon on a call hosted by House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. During the call, which lasted more than an hour, Biden’s future as party leader was heavily questioned, the sources said.
Each lawmaker was given the opportunity to speak in order of seniority. Even those who did not explicitly call for Biden to step down expressed concerns that he is not the strongest candidate to beat former President Donald Trump in November, additional sources said.
Lawmakers had a general sense that Vice President Kamala Harris would be a better candidate than Biden and would be the obvious choice to replace Biden if he withdrew from the race, the additional sources said.
Jeffries’ office declined to comment on the call.
Several lawmakers on the conference call declined to propose a new candidate, but expressed serious concerns about Democrats’ chances of winning the November primary with Biden at the top of the ticket. They included Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Don Beyer of Virginia and Jim Himes of Connecticut.
The three lawmakers hold top Democratic positions on the Oversight, Joint Economic and Intelligence committees, respectively.
After the call, Beyer reaffirmed his support for Biden in a statement.
“I support President Biden,” he said. “I support the Biden-Harris ticket and look forward to helping defeat Donald Trump in November.”
Raskin, Beyer and Himes did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Polls have shown that Biden’s age, 81, has long been a major concern among voters, but his widely criticized performance in the June 27 debate has sparked discussions among lawmakers and donors about whether he is the best candidate to take on Trump, 78, in the fall. Democrats in Congress have expressed their concerns publicly and privately.
Some House Democrats in key districts are wondering whether they should distance themselves from Biden.
Rep. Susan Wild, a Pennsylvania Democrat, expressed concerns Sunday about campaigning with Biden, particularly about how his top ticket could affect second-tier Democrats like her, according to two people familiar with her comments.
Wild, who narrowly won reelection in 2022 with 51% of the vote, has not asked Biden to leave the race, the sources said. She is the ranking Democrat on the House Ethics Committee.
Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., went further Saturday when she became the first front-line Democrat to call on Biden to step down.
“President Biden is a good man and I appreciate his lifetime of service,” she wrote on X. “But I think he should step down to make way for the next generation of leaders.”
The Congressional Black Caucus is broadly supportive of Biden, two sources told NBC News, with “some cracks” within the group.
Reps. Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee, both Democrats from California, strongly defended Biden on Sunday’s call, as they have publicly since his debate with Trump last month.
Separately, Florida Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson expressed support for Biden’s candidacy in a statement Sunday afternoon and criticized Democrats who have called for his withdrawal. Wilson, who is also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, did not participate in Sunday’s call.
“Any ‘leader’ who calls for President Biden to step down needs to get their priorities straight and stop undermining this incredible leader who has delivered real results for our country,” Wilson said in his statement.
Since the debate and his interview with ABC News on Friday, Biden has remained defiant in the face of calls to drop out of the race, repeatedly saying he remains in the race. During a stop in the key swing state of Pennsylvania on Sunday, he said “yes” after being asked if the Democratic Party supported him.
Biden gave an interview to ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos on Friday, but it did little to quell talk among Democrats on Capitol Hill that he should drop out of the race.
During the interview, Biden rejected calls for his resignation and said only the “Lord Almighty” could make him reconsider.
“Listen, I mean, if the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I would get out of the race,” he said. “The Lord Almighty is not coming down.”
