Democrat says 'mentor' and 'friend' Biden didn't 'recognize' him at recent meeting in brutal op-ed explaining why he should step down from the 2024 race

Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton said Friday that he decided to publicly push President Joe Biden out of the 2024 race after the 81-year-old didn't seem to recognize him. 

Moulton is among the throngs of Democratic lawmakers who have now said the 81-year-old president should quit his reelection bid. 

The Massachusetts Democrat wrote an op-ed Friday afternoon for The Boston Globe where he points out that he's known Biden for 10 years and floats that the president has rapidly declined. 

'Every time we crossed paths and I caught his eye, he would break into that big, wide Joe Biden grin and say how glad he was to see me. It was like that just last Christmas at the White House Ball,' Moulton penned. 

'More recently, I saw him in a small group at Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day,' Moulton continued. 'For the first time, he didn't seem to recognize me.'

Then Vice President Joe Biden (left) is photographed campaigning for Seth Moulton (right) in Lynn, Massachusetts in October 2014. Moulton wrote in an op-ed for The Boston Globe that Biden didn't seem to recognize him when they saw each other in Normandy in June

President Joe Biden (left) talks with Rep. Seth Moulton on the House floor after delivering the State of the Union address in 2023. Moulton recalled that as recently as Christmas Biden remembered him, but didn't seem to recognize him in June 

The Normandy anniversary happened in early June, while Biden's disastrous debate against former President Donald Trump came about seven weeks later. 

Once Moulton saw the debate something clicked. 

'Of course, that can happen as anyone ages, but as I watched the disastrous debate a few weeks ago, I have to admit that what I saw in Normandy was part of a deeper problem,' the Democrat conceded. 

'The harsh reality is that all the characteristics that have made Biden an irrepressible force - the energy, the vitality, the sharp, scrappy wit - are flickering,' Moulton said. 

He discussed how Biden had come to Lynn, Massachusetts in October 2014 to campaign for him, after his surprise victory in the Democratic primary. 

'He held a big rally for my general election campaign in Lynn, and I have treasured him as a mentor and friend ever since,' Moulton said. 

'Perhaps he saw a little of himself in a young upstart taking on an entrenched incumbent. That’s how he won his first race, too,' the congressman added. 

Then Vice President Joe Biden (left) gives a salute as he campaigns with Seth Moulton (right) in 2014, who would go on and win the Massachusetts congressional seat 

Moulton wrote that after winning the general election, Biden would invite him to the vice president's residence and teach him about Congress.

Other times, Biden would see Moulton on TV and call him about the interview.

So when Biden didn't recognize the lawmaker 'it was a crushing realization,' Moulton wrote.

'[A]nd not because a person I care about had a rough night but because everything is riding on Biden's ability to beat Donald Trump in November,' he said.   

Biden remains at his Rehoboth Beach home after testing positive for COVID-19 and leaving Las Vegas Wednesday, where he was holding campaign events this week. 

The president has so kept his heels dug in, as more and more Democrats urge him to bow out of the race.