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Top Democrat Adam Schiff demands Biden drop out of the race
Leading Democrat congressman Adam Schiff has issued a stunning call for Joe Biden to exit the presidential race.
Schiff became one of the most high-profile Democrats to publicly sour on Biden amid spiraling concerns over his age in the wake of a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump last month.
'While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden's alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,' Schiff said in a statement on Wednesday.
'And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election,' he continued.
Schiff, a senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and close ally of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, is running for the Senate to represent California.
He also led the first impeachment inquiry into Trump.
Rep. Adam Schiff called on President Biden to exit the presidential race and 'pass the torch'
'Joe Biden has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation's history, and his lifetime of service as a Senator, a Vice President, and now as President has made our country better,' his statement provided by his campaign read.
'But our nation is at a crossroads. A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November," he continued.
'But make no mistake, whoever our party ends up nominating, or if the nomination remains with the president, I will do everything I can to help them succeed. There is only one singular goal: defeating Donald Trump. The stakes are just too high,' he added.
President Biden speaking on July 16 at the Prosperity Summit in North Las Vegas
His statement comes as a brutal new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found 65 percent of Democrats want Biden to withdraw from the race and let the party nominate a different candidate.
It also found only 3 in 10 Democrats are confident in his mental capacity to serve as president.
The results undercut Biden's claim that 'average Democrats' want him to remain in the race and only 'the elite' want him out.
Biden has spent the past two weeks pushing back on the rising tide against him. But the poll, conducted since his disastrous debate with Trump, shows he has not been able to convince Democrats.
Schiff is one of twenty Democratic lawmakers to say Biden should step aside so far including 19 House members and Vermont Senator Peter Welch.
The avalanche of concerns about the president within his party quieted somewhat this past week after an assassination attempt on Trump, but the slow drip of officials saying it is time continues.
Meanwhile, Democrats will nominate Biden for re-election in a virtual roll call but will delay setting a date for the delegate vote after many Democrats raised objections to the planned process.
Co-chair of the party convention's rules committee, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, was asked about the roll call on Wednesday in Milwaukee. He said it needs to be done by the 15th of next month but said it won't happen before August 1.
The convention runs August 19 through 22 in Chicago.